#i’ve only had nightcrawler for one movie but if anything happens to him

[death-himself]

it’s so frustrating always getting into AAA entertainment years after it’s popular, how am i supposed to properly fanboy about x men apocalypse and quicksilver and nightcrawler when it came out 7 years ago

[dem-obscure-imagines]

Nightcrawler and the Princess

Kurt Wagner x Reader

Fandom: Marvel/X-Men

Summary: Being the princess of a small kingdom has its perks. However, you’re not sure this is a secret you can share with the rest of your friends…

Note: Did I make this a subtle crossover with the Princess Diaries? Yes. Yes I did. Don’t worry about it.

Reader is: Female

Warnings: Swears

Word Count: 1.8k

You carried the large box to the lunch table and set it there, in the middle of your friend group. Jean eyed it curiously.

“What’s that?”

“Care package from my mom.” You replied, using the pair of scissors you kept in your school bag to cut open the packing tape. “She said there’s stuff for the rest of you in here too. Probably candy or something.”

“That’s nice of her.” Scott smiled, watching as you opened the cardboard box.

“Ah, yep.” You reached into the bag and pulled out several packages of Genovian chocolates. “Here you go, guys.” You told them.

Kurt’s eyes narrowed at the bags, his tail hovering behind him curiously. He recognized that packaging. “These…I know these chocolates. Does your mother live in Genovia?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m from there, actually.”

Peter thought for a second, already munching on chocolate. “Wait, I thought you were American.”

“Nope.” You laughed, reaching further into the box and pulling out a handful of little Genovian flags she’d sent. “Ah, right. Independence day is coming up.”

“Where even is Genovia anyway?” Warren asked, admiring the little flag once you handed it to him.

“It’s a tiny little country between France and Italy.” You explained. “It’s really beautiful there, though.”

“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.” Kurt reminisced, sighing fondly.

“When did you visit?” You asked him.

“Several years ago.” He said. “The circus had a few shows there when I was young. The people were so kind, and the coast sparkled like diamonds.”

“You were with the Munich circus, right?” You asked him, trying to remember. He nodded proudly, a smile settling onto his face. “I was at one of your shows! I knew you looked familiar! Oh my god…” You laughed and shook your head. “I should have put those pieces together sooner.”

“You were there?”

“Yeah! My mom took me for my birthday.” You smiled, remembering the show fondly.

And Kurt knew then the information that you were withholding from the rest of the group. His eyes widened slightly and he studied your features. He remembered you. He remembered that day and he remembered the feeling of his heart hammering when after the show, the Queen of Genovia herself introduced him to her daughter, who was about his age. She’d taken her there because it was the princess’ birthday. Though your meeting was brief, he’d remembered it all this time, thinking of it every once in a while…the time he’d met a princess.

You didn’t look all that different now than you had then. Why you hadn’t told the rest of your friend group, he wasn’t sure, but he would keep the secret for you. Of course he would. He smiled softly, admiring you with his new revelation in mind. Even before he’d figured it out, you’d already been a princess to him anyway.

Peter studied the look on Kurt’s face and squinted. Something was going on. Something was going on and he would get to the bottom of it…

***

Over the weekend, your friend group had decided to go to the mall, but before you left, Kurt knocked on the door to your room.

“It’s open, come on in.” You told him.

He pushed open the door and stepped into the room timidly. You were at your desk, reading what appeared to be a letter written on a piece of paper.

“What’s up?” You asked, not looking up from the letter when you asked it.

“You’re coming to the mall, right?”

“Yeah, what time is it?” You glanced down at your watch. “Oh shit. Sorry I’m late.” You chuckled, folding the note and tucking it into your dress drawer. “My mom wrote me a letter with her package.” You explained.

“How nice!” Kurt smiled and you couldn’t stop your heart from fluttering at the way it lit up his face. “Do you write each other letters back and forth?”

“When I have time to, yeah.” You nodded, shoving your hands into your pockets. “Well, shall we?”

Kurt nodded and offered you his arm. You took it and in a poof of smoke, suddenly, you were standing in the living room, where the others were all standing.

Peter had a weird look on his face and you weren’t sure why, but you knew he was up to no good. He always seemed to be…

The squad piled into the car, as usual, and arrived at the mall in under thirty minutes. Jubilee picked the tunes, which was always a good choice, so the ride there was pleasant and relatively uneventful.

You all walked inside and started the routine of shopping around in all of your usual stores. The prom was coming up, so you all spent some time in the dress place on the upper level of the store.

“What color dress do you think you’re going to get, (Y/N)?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure.” You thought for a moment. “Maybe something pink. Or…blue?”

“I think blue would look great on you.” Jubilee grinned, flipping through the rack of blue dresses.

“I agree.” Jean smiled, her eyes flicking over towards Kurt, who was on the other side of the store with the boys.

“Hey now.” You warned, your cheeks warming at the thought. “What did I say about reading my mind?”

“I didn’t need to read your mind. You’re more obvious than you think you are.” She chuckled.

“What she said,” Ororo agreed, causing your cheeks to flush even hotter. “Why don’t we ask the boys which one you should wear?”

“That’s a great idea.” Jubilee agreed, despite your shaking head. “Hey boys!”

“Yes? What’s going on?” Kurt bamfed over beside you, looking at Jubilee curiously.

“Which dress should (Y/N) wear to prom?” Ororo held up one pink dress and one blue dress.

“The blue one.” Scott said knowingly, crossing his arms and smirking. Okay. So he and Jean had talked, then. “Definitely the blue one.”

“I agree.” Warren nodded.

“What do you think, Kurt?” Scott nudged the teleporter.

“I think you’d look beautiful in anything. But I do like the blue one. It brings out your eyes.”

“T-thanks.” You blushed, giggling. None of you committed to dresses, so after looking around for a while the squad decided to hit the food court while looking over movie times.

“So…” Peter looked up at you and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. “When were you planning to spill the beans…your highness?”

You swore your blood ran cold. You looked up at him, your heart racing in your chest and the color drained from your face. “Excuse you?”

“You heard me.” Peter raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair confidently. “When were you going to tell the rest of us your little royal secret?”

You froze, staring at him for a long time. “Maximoff,” you said through gritted teeth, your eyes glowing faintly. “Choose your next few words very carefully.”

“Oh I have. (Y/N)’s the princess of Genovia.”

“Pfft. As if.” Scott scoffed, chuckling, but he stopped when he looked at the look on your face. “Oh shit, is he serious?”

“Who the fuck told you?!” You asked him, your voice raising the teeniest bit. “The only people who know are Professor Xavier and Dr. McCoy, so which one do I have to kill when we get home?”

“Neither. I snooped in Xavier’s office. Found your file.” Peter shrugged. “And of course, that begs the question: Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Listen…” You exhaled a long breath, looking to each of your friends faces for a moment before fixing your eyes on the table. “When people know, they treat me differently. I don’t think they mean to, but they do and it sucks. I like having friends and I love hanging out with you guys and I didn’t want to ruin that because of something as stupid as status.”

“You’ve got us.” Jean promised. “We’re not going anywhere. This doesn’t change anything. And…I already kind of knew. Not that you think about it often, but every once in a while…”

“I figured that might happen, yeah.” You chuckled. “Thanks for keeping it on the DL.”

“Of course.” She nodded.

“I knew too…” Kurt confessed, looking you in the eye.

You crinkled your eyebrows and then nodded, understanding. Of course he knew. You two had met before, after the show. You’d asked your mother if you could meet some of the performers, and she’d pulled some strings to make it happen. You distinctly remembered meeting Kurt. You remembered his smile and his adorable pointy ears.

“That’s right.” You smiled. “We met.”

“We did.” He agreed, nodding, a smile tugging at his lips and a faintly purple color creeping across his cheeks. “Although, I’ll admit, I didn’t realize it was you until…very recently. We aren’t kids anymore.”

“We sure aren’t.” You agreed, a chuckle escaping your lips.

And it was fine after that. It was normal. Much more normal than you’d expected it to be. Another week came and went. You finished your letter to your mom, Queen Clarisse, and when its response came back in the mail, you found it accompanied by a small picture she had saved all these years. As soon as you looked at it, a smile on your face, you knew you had to show Kurt.

So, you ran out to the courtyard, where you knew he was, and found him reading under the shade of a large tree in the front yard.

“Kurt!”

“What’s up?”

“My mom sent a few copies of this photo. Do you want one?” You asked, sitting next to him in the grass and handing him the photo. He looked it over, holding it very carefully in a large, three-fingered hand.

“This is us, ja?”

“Mmhmm.” You hummed, nodding. “A very long time ago.”

“We were so young…” He murmured, admiring the smile on his face as well as yours. He remembered you’d been nervous to meet him and at first, he thought it was because of the way he looked, but quickly learned it was because you’d been enamored by his performance. Absolutely blown away. You’d been so kind to him then, just as you were so kind to him now.

“We really were.”

“Do you mind if I keep this?”

“It’s all yours.” You told him. “So, what’cha reading?”

“Beauty and the Beast.” He told you. Ever since remembering that one of his best friends was a princess, he’d been on a bit of a fairytale kick.

“Mmm, that’s a good one.” You smiled and tilted your head, your eyes sparkling. “Read to me?”

“Of course.” He laid back against the tree again, holding the book open with his tail.

You got closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting your head against his lean chest. His arm wrapped around you and tugged you closer, and without even thinking about it twice, he pressed a soft kiss to your hairline before starting to read again.

Kurt decided then that there was no place in the world he’d rather be than under his favorite tree, a princess resting contently against his chest.

Part 2?

[sukifans]

IT’S ALL LATIN TO ME

ZUKO X READER COLLEGE!SMAU

⏎ MASTERLIST // part VI « VII. just friends :) » part VIII

SUMMARY: you’re a premed student at BSSU and you thought it’d be a good idea to take a latin class, but you’re in way over your head here. good thing your buddy sokka knows a classics major in your section you can study with.

WARNINGS: language

She really, really tried not to show how nervous she was. It would be stupid to be nervous, after all — it’s not a date, regardless of what her friends say. Besides, they had hung out alone before, even if only to study Latin. Friends meet up and get dinner and see movies together all the time. Toph and Suki and everyone else were just projecting what they wanted to happen. Surely if Zuko had intended to ask her on a date, he would simply and clearly ask her on a date. Surely.

The car ride to the pizza joint near the theater they’d decided on for dinner was mostly music-filled silence punctuated by some awkward small talk. She hoped he wouldn’t notice how often she had to covertly wipe the sweat off her palms on her pants. He was anxiously tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel as he drove, wishing he could think of something to say to break through the palpable tension. Even as he racked his brains, nothing came up. He let himself zone out to the sound of her soft humming from the passenger seat and stole glances over at her every so often. Maybe by some miracle he’d be a master at the art of conversation by the time they made it to the restaurant. Unlikely, but not entirely impossible.

“You know I have to pay for your ticket now, right?” she said, eyeballing him as he added a tip and signed the receipt for the dinner he’d insisted on covering.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m paying tonight.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m paying tonight.”

“You don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “You don’t need to do that.”

“I want to,” he assured, bumping against her side as they left the restaurant and headed in the direction of the theater. “Besides, princesses don’t pay for anything.” He grinned at the way her nose scrunched.

“You would know,” she quipped. He rolled his eyes to draw attention away from his nervous blush when she linked their arms together and leaned into him.

“Why do they call you that, anyways?”

She pursed her lips and willed the aggressive heat rising to her cheeks to settle down. “They say I’m high maintenance,” she lied.

He frowned. “That’s kind of mean. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re high maintenance.”

“Thanks, Zu.”

They continued to chat lightheartedly as they walked up to the theater building and, after a bit of arguing and shoving to get to the card reader first at the ticket stand, (Y/N) begrudgingly accepted that Zuko would not be letting her pay that night. She held out hope that maybe she could sneakily buy something from the concession stand before he noticed. As they approached the counter, an employee ringing people up caught her eye. He was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. The feeling kept getting stronger as she and Zuko approached his register.

“Oh, hey, Zuko,” the guy said once she and Zuko were in front of him.

“Hey, Haru.” Ah, Haru! She and him had had a few classes together in the past and sent lecture notes back and forth. “How have you been?”

“The usual, work and school.” Haru shrugged. “You?”

“Pretty much the same,” said Zuko. “Do you know my friend (Y/N)?” Haru looked over to her and gave her a soft smile.

“Actually, yeah. We’ve been in a few lectures together. What’s up? Haven’t seen you this semester.”

“Oh, you know... the usual,” she chuckled nervously. “You and Zuko know each other?”

“We went to high school together,” he said.

“It seems like everyone at BSSU went to high school together,” she said and Haru nodded.

“Most people that went to our school ended up here, honestly. But hey, I don’t wanna keep you guys from your movie. Can I get you something?”

(Y/N) had nearly tackled Zuko in order to pay for their snacks before he could, making Haru laugh. When she met his eyes, she felt warmth flood to her cheeks.

“Thanks, Haru,” she said, looking away quickly.

“Yeah, for sure. Have a good time, guys.” As she started to turn away, he leaned forwards to catch her attention. “It was nice seeing you again, (Y/N); I’ve kinda missed you copying off my notes in class. We should go out for coffee or something sometime.”

Well... that was unexpected. She was so surprised by the request that she didn’t notice the way Zuko stiffened, muscles in his face flexing as he clenched his jaw. Haru did, however, and shot him a confused look that was met with narrowed eyes. Blinking quickly, she recovered and sent him a smile.

“Yeah, that’d be fun,” she said.

“Great!” Haru said. “I’ll talk to you later, then. See you guys around.”

“Have a good shift!” she chirped. Zuko merely grunted and nodded towards Haru in acknowledgement before walking towards the theater with (Y/N). Now she noticed the tension in his posture and nudged him with her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You sure? You’re acting weird now.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” She frowned and stopped just outside the entrance to the theater. He paused too when he saw she wasn’t following.

“Do you not want to see the movie anymore? We can go home if you want.”

“No, I said I was fine. Let’s go.” He turned to leave and huffed when she didn’t move.

“Zuko,” she said pointedly and he felt his cheeks go pink. If he would’ve just plainly told her this was supposed to be a date, this wouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t her fault he was a jealous idiot.

He sighed. “I promise it’s nothing. It’s just a little jarring seeing people from high school because... well, I wasn’t a very good person back then. I don’t like to remember it.”

Her expression softened. “Sorry, Zu. I didn’t realize.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. You’re right, I was acting weird.” He held his hand out to her and she took it gladly. “C’mon, we have a movie to watch.”

“If it means anything to you,” she whispered as they looked for their seats, “I think you’re a very good person now.” His pulse jumped at her words as she squeezed his hand.

“It means a lot, (Y/N),” he responded, giving her a small smile that she returned.

When they finally left the theater a few hours later, Zuko made sure their clasped hands were in plain sight as (Y/N) waved goodbye to Haru.

A/N: hi guys!! it’s been a while, i know :/ i was going through a big slump and this chapter was giving me a lot of problems for some reason. i’m still not thrilled with it, but i wanted to get something out for y’all! thank you so much for being patient with me as i adjusted to moving back to my college town and starting classes and work again, so many of you were so very lovely and supportive and it made the slump easier to worm out of eventually. and i made a gif! :D anyways!! hope you enjoyed this update and as always feel free to send an ask or reply! for tag requests i prefer asks so i can keep track of them easier without getting lost in my notifs :^) also sorry about no read more cuts, every time i try to add one on desktop it won’t let me edit my draft on mobile to fix the formatting :(

TAGS: @theblueslytherin @beifongsss @coconutsaiyan @5sos-wdw @silverreading @the-lva-way @cupofnctea @khaleesi-of-assassins @bloomkings @pyromaniac-olive @lil-lex1 @kyleewrites @cece-lives-here @coldlilheart @royahllty @astralsaf @damianwaynerocks @darkskin-buttercup @emogril @plutaars @duh-dobrik @harajukukitsune @kangaroobunny @harmlessoffering @rosetheshapeshifter @past-2am @welovediaaxx @dailytrashypanda @thenutellabreadsticks @sara5208 @whalerus @fanworrior @andrevvminyrd @travvestys @rosesandpines @cipheress-to-k-pop @lukessimp @justab-eautifulmess @mochminnie @whoevenfrickenknows @asianequation @booksandwonderlands @dekumiya @mothman-juicy-ass @spooky-titties @394pitterpatterpotter394 @rockinearthbending-marauders @kurt-nightcrawler @sifucuteness @degenerationarmy @songofgratitude

[lovemustruleusall]

Movie Recommendations

since quarantine started, I think I've watched more movies in the past three weeks than I have in the past 6 months. here are some of my favorites

The Lobster (2015)

dir: Yorgos Lanthimos

available on: Netflix

fascinating concept, executed well, beautifully shot and a gripping ending that i still sometimes think about. one of those movies i looked up what happened at the end because i wanted someone elses opinon. (aka, it’s up to interpretation).

Her (2013)

dir: Spike Jonze

available on: Netflix

one of my favorites I saw during quarantine. thoroughly engaging throughout regardless of it’s longer runtime. beautifully shot, edited and great performances by everyone involved.

Booksmart (2019)

dir: Olivia Wilde

available on: Hulu

this movie shocked me with how much I ended up enjoying it. i was nervous at first, especially about the likeability of the characters, but they got me at the end. If you are looking for an upbeat, feel good, and funny movie, this is it. 

Boy (2010)

dir: Taika Waititi

available on: amazon prime

my favorite movie ever made. Taika Waititi is a genius. he’s a master at mixing emotion with humor without it feeling like he’s trying too hard. beautifully shot and written, very underrated movie.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

dir: Taika Waititi/Jermaine Clement 

please watch this if you want to laugh. one of the funniest movies i’ve ever seen. i think we can all agree that peytr is the best character.

Submarine (2011)

dir:  Richard Ayoade

rewatching this movie during quarantine makes me remember why it was my favorite movie for so many years. it may be a coming of age story, but it's somehow so much more than others i’ve seen. plus, alex turner does the soundtrack. great film. love u Richard.

The Way Way Back (2013)

dir: Jim Rash/Nat Faxon

rewatched for the first time since 2013. Sam Rockwell’s character is easily the best even though he may be overly obnoxious at times. unfortunately, the main character is less likable than the supporting characters, but it is quite a lovable film. stars toni collette, allison janney, and steve carell too.

Nightcrawler (2014) 

dir: Dan Gilroy

available on: amazon prime

watched this days ago and still can’t decide on my feelings about it. gripping and deeply unsettling. Jake Gyllenhaal delivers (as usual).

Moonlight (2016)

dir: Barry Jenkins

available on: netflix

this movie is beautiful. from the way the story is told, shot, and acted, it's great. deserves all of the hype it received upon coming out. longer runtime, so be prepared.

Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)

dir: Bo Burnham, Christopher Storer

available on: netflix

this is a comedy special. since watching it when released, I haven’t stopped thinking about it. one of the smartest, most thought-provoking pieces of music I have ever listened to (just the last song, it has me fucked up to this day). 

Chronicle of a Summer (1961)

dir: Jean Rouch/Edgar Morin

watched for a class and was stunned by how much I was enamored with and intrigued by it. follows ethnographers asking the question, “are you happy?”. the whole movie is in French!

Skeleton Twins (2014)

dir: Craig Johnson

available on: Hulu

wanted to watch since i heard about it. shocked by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig’s performances and the emotional storyline of the film overall. may seem like a backhanded compliment, but I was shocked by how good this film was.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

dir: Taika Waititi

available on: hulu

if there’s any movie you should watch during this quarantine it’s any of Taika Waititi’s films. he delivers every time with a comedic, heartfelt, and unique story.

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

dir: Rob Burnett

available on: Netflix

i was pleasantly surprised by this movie. really great performance by Craig Roberts. i too would like to go on a week long roadtrip with Paul Rudd. i think i’ll pass on the part where he wipes my ass, though.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2020)

dir: Joe Talbot

available on: amazon prime

this movie isn’t really plot heavy, but it’s still beautifully done and facinating. found myself not really caring about parts of the plot when watching, i just enjoyed it. 

Frank (2014)

dir: Lenny Abrahamson

available on: YouTube (for free as of May 2020)

a weird movie, and i can’t say for sure if i am ashamed to have liked the last song they wrote on the spot. i think the character design of the helmet is enough of a reason to watch.

Trainspotting (1996)

dir: Danny Boyle

young ewan mcgregor was enough of a reason to get me to watch this movie. a look at drug use in young adult/adult culture in scotland during the 90′s. and it will always go down as the movie i remember that noel gallagher/oasis said no to the soundtrack to because he thought it was about literally train-spotting. another irvine welsh novel made into a movie (first was filth)

T2L Trainspotting (2017)

director: Danny Boyle

i didn’t realize there was a sequel when I watched the first and I wasn’t really expecting anything much from this. i don’t know if it’s just my love for ewan mcgregor, but I really liked this movie. the soundtrack is just as good as the first, too.

Paris is Burning (1990)

dir: Jennie Livingston

available on: netflix

one of my favorite pieces of film of all time, probably my favorite documentary out there. i think it’s probably one of the only things i’ve ever considered as ‘essential viewing’

Inside (2021)

dir: Bo Burnham

available on: netflix

one of my favorite things to come out of quarantine. I have missed bo and his content so much it was amazing to see him come back in such a raw and touching way. I've had the soundtrack on repeat for the past two weeks now, highly recommend.

Filth (2013)

dir: Jon S. Baird

honestly, one of the strangest movies I've ever seen, but I still enjoyed it. it’s quite crass, so be prepared for some rather vulgar and explicit content. plus, has james mcavoy, which is always a plus.

Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 (2021)

dir: James Acaster

available on: Vimeo (for purchase)

another comedy special! besides “Make Happy” this is one of my favorite comedy specials I have ever seen. James is fucking fantastic and the two hour runtime somehow seems too short. 

Promising Young Woman (2021)

dir: Emerald Fennell

this one has had people conflicted. I enjoyed the movie (especially with the shock that bo burnham was in it, also, a great casting choice) and honestly.... quite enjoyed the ending. highly recommend, I was engaged throughout!

[valkyrieofsmut]

At Your Service, Alpha   6

Alpha!Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) x omega!Reader

Descriptions:   Kurt is apartment sitting for his friend and the last thing he expected to find was his one true omega, but there she was. Except she can’t seem to tell they belong together. (Y/n) has dreamed about the day she would meet her one true alpha her whole life. A new, blue, alpha comes to see her every day, and she hates him! Until she starts thinking about him all the time. Her allergies make it so she can’t smell anything, but she knows that her alpha will let her know when he finds her. Won’t he?

A/n- Our lady waitress has a heat, poor Kurt is sent into a rut... and relationship development! 

Masterlist

Story!

She’s not even sure when she got comfortable with him, but a week later, they’ve become friendly. 

Kurt smiled as (Y/n) wiped a table next to him. “How was your free day, Liebling?” 

(Y/n) look over at him, finishing the table. She’d had the day off the day before, and hadn’t seen him. “Fine.” She answered. “Just cleaned and read.” She didn’t want to mention that she was preparing for the heat that was due in a few weeks; not only was it none of his business, she didn’t want him to go all alpha like before and follow her around to take advantage. 

. 

They started talking about books, and movies, tv shows that they both liked, and one morning, (Y/n) found herself delivering a plate with a large cinnamon roll on it with his coffee. 

He took a deep breath in and smiled. “You certainly are missing out on an integral part of eating, you know, (Y/n)?”  He commented, gently, almost teasing. 

(Y/n) didn’t comment, but told him, “I caught an episode of that show you were telling me about, and I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of it before. It’s really interesting. It helps that the episodes are contained, too, so that I’m not missing too much, no matter where I come in to the show.” 

He nodded. “It is underrated. No one knew about it where I normally stay until I found it, and now, I like to think that I introduced them to a new passion,” he said with a near chuckle. 

“You mean they’re addicted,” (Y/n) joked. 

“To say it another way,” he agreed carelessly. 

Somehow, they’d become friends, she realized as they said goodbye after he paid his check. 

“You’re smiling,” Alex commented, standing close to her and bumping her with her shoulder. 

(Y/n) quickly turned it to a frown, but overdid it on purpose, looking silly instead. 

Alex bumped her again. “So… What’s the story now?” She pressed teasingly. 

“Nothing,” (Y/n) protested. “He’s just turning out to be a nicer guy than I thought he was.” 

“Ooo, Nice, huh? Guess I don’t have to worry, but maybe I should warn him that he’s been friendzoned?” Alex giggled. 

“I think he friendzoned me first,” (Y/n) defended. “That’s probably what made him calm down.” 

Alex rolled her eyes. “It’s not impossible for men and women to be friends, or for alphas and omegas to be friends, but it’s still a friendship that still has that hope- most of the time,” she qualified. 

“Most of the time,” (Y/n) agreed. 

But, whether or not (Y/n) noticed, or refused to admit, they were friends, faster than she had thought possible, especially with how much she had disliked him at first, and how short a time had passed since that time. 

. 

By the end of the next week, (Y/n) was sitting at his table, smiling and laughing as the two of them talked about everything and nothing, warmth filling her whenever he had a smile for her, which was most of the time. 

(Y/n) checked the time on her phone, standing and brushing herself off. “Back to work I go,” she told him as she excused herself. 

Kurt couldn’t help the gnawing feeling chewing at his belly despite his smile. 

He wanted her to be his. 

He needed her to be his, but this was taking forever. 

How long did it take to get a girl to fall in love with you, anyway? 

After all of the research he’d been doing, he now knew that the feeling that ate at him was lovesickness, but that didn’t help him cure it, the only thing that would do that would be to have (Y/n) with him. 

She was stubborn, and he was beginning to see that he’d never make her do something she didn’t want to, which meant that she’d never take her allergy meds and smell him to know that they belonged together. His only other option was to tell her that she was his, but this long after meeting her and knowing, he was worried that she would be angry at him for not telling her sooner, keeping it from her and lying to her in a sense; though extremely rare, it was not impossible for an omega to refuse their alpha, especially if the scent bonding didn't take place. 

She was a rare woman to be sure, she likely could do that, and he didn't think he'd be able to survive if she did. 

. 

Kurt spent the day (Y/n) had off taking care of errands, though he didn’t particularly have the need buy more food, since he ate most of his meals at the cafe, but he took care of the bills that came in for Scott from the account he’d left information for, and looked around the few stores in town, hoping to find something that would at least temporarily take away the discomfort and restlessness he felt. 

. 

The sun was rising in the sky, washing the horizon with soft colors that reminded of butter, pooling across the sky and meeting robin egg blue that darkened across the sky where the edge of night still reigned. 

Kurt sat at his usual table, and (Y/n) brought him a menu, even though he would probably order the same thing he usually did. 

When she got close to him, his nostrils and pupils dilated. 

That sweet, savory, pungent, delicate, heady aroma met him, and it was all he could do to keep from leaping from the table and knocking her down to start grinding against her desperately. 

She was about to start a heat, within the next two or three days. 

He licked his lips and willed his testosterone to get back to a relatively normal level. 

(Y/n) walked back through the seats, getting to her destination and setting the plate of breakfast rolls on the table. 

A breeze blew past (Y/n), and she blushed as the warm wind brushed past her thighs. 

An alpha at a table downwind, and next to her, growled, turning to look at her. (Y/n) looked away to the ground, trying not to offend him. 

All of the alphas had been looking at her a bit strangely this morning, except for Kurt, who had been glaring at the other alphas. 

(Y/n) backed away from the alpha and started to move toward the cafe, but the alpha stood suddenly, in her path. He licked his lips and took a step towards her. 

Kurt was suddenly at (Y/n)'s back, growling over her shoulder at the other alpha. The other alpha, who she thought she remembered had been called Dustin by his companion, growled, and stepped forward, glaring at Kurt. 

Kurt bared his teeth, showing his fangs, as his tail lashed, his voice lowering to darkly tell him, “Back off.” 

The deep tones of his voice, still velvetly coated in his accent, made her belly quiver. 

Not in desire- (Y/n) quickly affirmed- just that- damn her heat was coming on quick, it wasn’t even due until next week. 

Dustin caught the scent of Kurt and backed away, turning and leaving. 

Kurt glared around at the rest of the patrons to make sure they understood to stay away as well before sitting back in his chair. 

Luckily, it was close to the end of her shift, and (Y/n) would soon be safe at home. 

The next morning, though, (Y/n) awoke feeling like she had a fever. “I’m sorry,” she told Alex again over the phone. “I don’t know what happened, it’s so weird- it’s not even time, yet!” 

Alex sighed. “It’s weird, but I’ve heard of it happening,” she told her. “Just, stay at home, stay safe. I’ll see you when it’s over.” 

(Y/n) hung up, putting her phone down on the dresser and opening the drawer. Inside is her toy, and she stared at it for a moment before pulling it out. 

She’d never really thought about it before, the color was just the luck of the draw, not planned out, but it was blue. Not the same color as Kurt’s skin, more of a teal blue, but at that moment with her fingers brushing along its length, she thought of him. 

(Y/n) shook her head and went to the bathroom to fill the tub with water. 

Kurt arrived at the cafe, sitting in his usual spot, looking around, very sure that he was going to need to stay close to (Y/n) to make sure nothing happened to her, since her delicious smell was sure to be strong again. 

A server with blond pigtails walked over to him and handed him a menu. “Welcome! Please look over the menu.” 

“Where is (Y/n)?” he asked. 

“(Y/n)? She called in sick, but I’ll be glad to serve you,” she bowed. 

Kurt stood and walked away. 

He teleported away as soon as he reached the trees and wouldn’t surprise or scare anyone, appearing instantly at the front doors of the apartments. He hurried into the building and up to the floor, going to (Y/n)’s door. 

He sniffed, smelling himself from his markings, and her from under the door. Her scent seemed to be washing his mark away. Kurt’s hands unbuttoned his jeans before he had realized it, the only thought running through his mind that he needed to mark stronger. He aimed at the sides of the door, making small puddles on either side before sniffing. He only smelled himself, strong and overpowering. He then quickly went back into Scott’s apartment, closing the door behind him and rushing to the bathroom and into the shower. 

He was stiff, so stiff it was probably causing problems with his circulation. 

He was going into a rut, he knew, brought on by (Y/n)’s delicious heat scent. “Scheisse,” he growled, his hand reaching down to himself. 

He came quick, having not been with anyone for a while, and squeezed his hand around his knot when it finished growing. 

From experience, he knew that now would be when (Y/n) would be calm, having her wits back about her, and able to have coherent talk for a bit, until her body heated up again and started melting her mind away. 

The thought of being able to lay next to her and kiss her and talk to her about everything and nothing, plan for their future, think about the possibility of having pups, or when would be a good time to for the next fifteen to thirty minutes until he deflated just made him wish to storm her apartment more. 

Then, she’d start begging again, a moan, a plea, a taunt, sometimes omegas tried to wile their way into another round immediately, and sometimes they tried to rile their alphas up into a frenzy to make them rough with them. 

The thought of those possibilities made Kurt jerk against his hand again, giving an extra squirt in excitement. 

. 

(Y/n) laid back on the bed, panting and humming in discontent. Her hand was pumping the toy, digging just a little, needing to get that itch deep inside. 

Why was it she couldn’t have an alpha? 

The world was madness! 

Who would care?! 

Deep down she had a fear she’d regret it, but she couldn’t quite remember why at the moment. 

(Y/n)'s nipples tightened, frustrating her further, and she wasn't quite sure how to treat them if they didn’t like her fingers twisting them. She panted harder, letting out a slightly pitiful whine as her hips arched and she felt her muscles clench. 

It was a wave of release, but it left her feeling empty when there was no bulge to fill her up, no alpha to affirm that she was being good, that she’d done everything right and would soon be carrying his pups. 

A moment of half clarity met her brain, and she knew, she didn’t want pups right now, that it was the heat talking, but it would still be nice to be with an alpha, she was sure. 

At least, Alex said so, and she’d been with a few. 

(Y/n) sighed and tried to enjoy the semi-clarity, but soon she was heating back up. 

It would be nice to not be at this alone, to have someone with her, but it’s not like she was interested in anyone. 

Kurt’s face appeared in her mind. 

He was deliciously alpha, and turning out to be very kind. He didn’t get angry at her when she yelled and threw things and generally didn’t act like an omega- in fact, he kinda seemed to like it, if she were completely honest… 

(Y/n) shook her head, trying to shake out the thought. 

His face stayed with her, though. 

She hit the button on the toy again, turning it on and moving it. 

The memory of Kurt behind her, his deep velvety voice in her ear filled her mind, and her hands set the toy before sliding up her body. 

(Y/n)'s hands took hold of her breasts, cupping and playing with them, flicking her nipples and thinking of hands a little different in their place as her hips moved on their own, thrusting and arching against the toy vibrating in patterns inside her. 

The pressure inside built, the need and desire not waning as she came, twice now, then three times, thinking of blue lips brushing her ear and whispering things to her, three fingered hands touching her and trying to fulfill her breasts’ needs and unrelenting desire for something unknown, him, inside her, filling her up- 

“Ahhhh!” She cried out as she came, again, her body arching off the bed. 

God, Goddess, love, life- she didn’t know what to beg or pray to that she could ever feel that good again. 

In that short time of half clarity, she thought that she were being stupid- how could anyone ever touch her the way she needed to be touched, that surely any contact she had with a certain blue someone would not be able to compare to what was building itself up to be high expectations in her mind. 

Was it too late to be with an alpha for the first time? Would she ever be satisfied with the craziness and perfection she'd built it up to be? 

(Y/n) tried to reassure herself as she felt her body heat up again; with your one true alpha, it would always be amazing. 

Kurt laid on Scott's bed, exhausted from his three hour long shower, and nearly frozen from the last hour of frigid water. It had gotten colder and colder, so slowly that when he had finally finished, he was surprised to realize that his skin was cold. 

. 

The week was hard, Kurt nearly had to lock himself up; knowing that (Y/n) was so close, in heat, needing him, probably crying out for him, made it hard for him to stay away. 

He had no idea how she did this by herself, every month, for however many years. Once was more than enough for him.

Tag List!

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[freakvampire]

Sweet, Sweet Nothings

Warren Worthington III x Reader

Rating: sfw / T

Word Count: 1200

Warning(s): only rated T for the fuck word

i wrote this with reader being gender neutral because warren is a bi legend, and it's vague enough that it can be xmcu warren or comics warren, and it's not proof read because im lazy

this is basically just a bunch of toothachingly sweet & soft fluff for @kurt-nightcrawler !

“Hey baby!” Warren called, kicking his shoes off. You called back, and he kept talking, “Sorry I’m late! Scott and Bobby and I were hanging out.”

“No worries. Did you guys have fun?” You smiled, craning your neck to see him from the couch one he found his way into the living room. He walked to you, placing a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Of course we had fun,” Warren lifted your legs up, sitting down and putting your legs back on his lap, his wings draped over the back of the couch, “How about you? You feeling alright?”

“My head still hurts,” you shrugged, “But you always managed to make me feel better, Warren.”

“I’m glad,” he smiled back at you, and it was warm, and loving, and you couldn't help but sit up so you could curl up against him. He wrapped an arm around you, kissing your head again.

“You're so warm,” you hummed, hiding your face in his shirt. It was such soft fabric, and Warren smelled like clean laundry, and cologne, and whatever product he put in his hair. It was comforting.

Warren’s thumb rubbed slow circles on your skin, and he tucked his face against your hair, “I love you, you know that?”

“You keep reminding me,” you looked up to see his face, grinning as he kissed you again, “I love you too, cherub.”

He laughed a little at the nickname, a sweet pet name you had that had started as a joke. Originally making fun of him, the name quickly morphed into one of endearment, and it warmed his heart to hear you say it. It warmed his heart when you called him anything, or spoke to him, or even looked at him— you made him feel loved, and he loved you.

“You want me to make you something to eat?” He asked, his hand moving to instead play with your hair. You closed your eyes, deciding you deserved the soothing feeling.

“I’m fine, thank you,” you said, “I ate earlier. You're a sweetheart, you know that?”

“Oh, only for you,” Warren laughed a little, and it was lovely to hear. You were happy he was happy, “You make me a hopelessly romantic sappy lover boy.”

You nodded, kissing his neck gingerly, “And you're my hopelessly romantic sappy lover boy, you oversized pigeon.”

“I can't say it enough, (Y/N),” he shifted to wrap both of his arms around you, cuddling closer to you, “I love you. I love you so much.”

“And I love you so much,” you repeated, “You wanna put on a movie? I think we should just lay around and be lazy for the rest of the day. You don't get enough down time, cherub.”

“Would you mind grabbing the IcyHot?” He stood up, ruffling your hair as he did so, “I’ll put something on.”

“Are you gonna make me watch Blues Brothers again?” You whined playfully, standing up after him.

“It's a classic, alright? The Penguin, Cab Calloway, Arethra Franklin, the writing, the cinematography, you gotta love it, babe,” he put his hand over his heart, feigning offense, and then let you disappear from the living room after giving him a kiss.

You opened the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, snagging the tube of IcyHot. It was folded and smashed from someone squeezing the cream out with a fist, rather than flattening it. Someone, being Warren. As you made your way back to the living room, you smoothed over the tube, restoring it to something usable.

“I’m gonna make a pot of coffee, does that happen to fit your fancy?” Warren caught your attention, standing in the kitchen, leaning against the countertop. You could already hear the hum of the coffee maker.

“If we still have the nice creamer,” you nodded, a smiling painting your face when Warren held up the plastic container and shook it to let you know there was, in fact, creamer.

“C’mere,” Warren opened his arms, pulling you against his body once you stepped close enough, “I love you.”

“I love you,” you repeated, one hand snaking you to hold Warren’s face as you kissed his cheek, “How’s your back?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” he shrugged, starting to sway side to side with you, “My back is sore and my shoulders hurt like a motherfucker.”

“I really think you should start doing yoga and walking more often. I know you've got these massive wings, but if they're just gonna make you sore, you should chill,” you closed your eyes as he buried his fingers in your hair, brushing through it carefully.

He rested his face against your head again and said, “What’s the point of having wings if you don't show off? If you do yoga with me, I’ll do yoga, but it’s not like I’m flying more often than I should.”

“I guarantee you that that’s a lie,” you backed away to take two mugs out of the cabinet— the one Warren always used, and your favourite— and set them beside of coffee maker.

“Ridiculous,” Warren waved his hand dismissively, taking the pot to pour coffee into the waiting mugs, “I’ve never once lied in my life. I’m a perfect man, who has never done anything wrong. You wouldn't be uselessly in love with me otherwise.”

“Uselessly?” You repeated, taking the creamer he had busted picked up to help yourself first, “Watch it, cherub, I’ll show you useless.”

Warren’s light laughter filled the room, enveloping the two of you in a sense of warmth you didn't often feel. The domesticity of making coffee together, of just standing around in the kitchen, was something beautiful. To be so close to him, and have him so close to you, like nothing could ever be wrong with the world, not while you were like this.

By the time Warren sat down on the couch, coffee in hand, his shirt was already off. He had his wings as far out of the way as possible so you had access to his shoulders. With the Blues Brothers playing on the tv, and Warren leaning forward with his eyes closed, you wordlessly started to massage the IcyHot into his skin.

“I owe you one,” he grunted, letting himself be gingerly pushed forward now and again by your thumbs.

“You say that every time, I’m gonna cash in one day and you’ll have to take me on a luxury tour of European landmarks,” you joked, eyes glancing to the TV once you got yourself into a rhythm.

The two of you sat in comfortable silence, laughing with the movie, making small comments to each other. Once you were done slathering him in IcyHot, Warren leaned against your shoulder. You welcomed it, in turn leaning against him.

“I love you,” you whispered, taking Warren’s hand to hold and rubbing the back of it with your thumb, “I’m glad we can just… sit around like this.”

Warren took a deep breath, but he didn't move, or speak very quickly. He was relaxed. He was happy. He wanted the moment to never end. He looked up at you, “It’s nice, isn't it? I’m glad you're here to sit around with me.”

[365days365movies]

January 14, 2021: GoldenEye (Epilogue)

WhoooooooooooooOK. Look, I’m gonna get through this, but I’m gonna have to go in a different order. I’m going from highest score to lowest, because that’s how I’m gonna be able to get through this. And for the record, I’ll be doing some...ranting...at certain points. This is gonna be interesting. Why? Well, let’s start with this little tidbit.

79%. Not my score. That’s the Rotten Tomatoes score for this movie. The average rating on RT is 7.1/10. My score...my score will not be that high. Maybe not terribly low, but...it ain’t gonna be that high. ‘Cause I got some problems. OH BOY...do I got some problems. And this might even be controversial for some, but if you like this movie, I’m so happy for you.

I...I was not that lucky.

Review

Direction and Action

To Martin Campbell: great job. I actually mean this sincerely, great job with the direction of this movie, as well as the cinematography. Good job from you too, Phil Méheux. Some of the shots and framing of this movie are great, and credit absolutely deserves to be given for that. And the action! Look, as stupid as some of the framing is for it (we’ll get there, dear GOD, we’ll get there), the action is all dynamite. From the jump into the dam at the beginning, to the VERY impressively brutal fight scene between Alec and James at the end. Absolutely impressive, and gets a 9/10 from me. Yeah, really. No complaints here. 

Wow, a 9? That’s a big deal! I thought you said you hated this movie.

I don’t hate everything in this movie. But some things...some things...we’ll get there.

Cast and Acting

I can’t believe I’m saying this, considering my opinions on a lot of the movie...but Brosnan is a pretty great Bond. I hate the lines he’s forced to deliver, I hate the relationships and lack of emotion in his dialogue (WE WILL GET THERE), but I don’t actually blame Brosnan for that. He does a great job with what he’s given. And that basically goes for everybody else...almost. Famke Janssen. Xenia...she, uh...HOLY SHIT DUDE. She fuckin’ GOES for it. She’s the craziest Bond...Girl...wait. No, wait, she isn’t the Bond Girl. SHE’S THE HENCHMAN. Shit. OK, I’m on board with Xenia and Famke Janssen’s portrayal. Over the top, sure, but I can deal with that. Sean Bean does great, no surprise there, and I even like Izabella Scorupco as Natalya. Alan Cumming...Boris....yeah, no, no pass for Boris, he’s obnoxious as hell. I know you’re a great actor, Alan Cumming. So why in the hell do I NEVER SEE YOU IN ANYTHING GOOD??? Except X2, you rocked as Nightcrawler. And y’know what, Judi Dench’s one scene as M was FANTASTIC. Seriously, more of THAT, please! So, yeah, when I really think about it, high marks here, too. 8/10!

And an 8! For somebody who liked Connery, I’m surprised that Brosnan was OK for you. And yet, you said you didn’t like this movie? Why?

Just keep reading. It’ll aaaaaaaaaaallllllll make sense soon.

Production Design

Not much to say here, except...yeah, it looks great! From Arecibo Observatory to the streets of St. Petersburg, it all looks great. Iconic sets, like that Soviet statuary. Costumes, ESPECIALLY Xenia’s, were also pretty good, although not particularly iconic. Definitely no real problems here. Good job, Peter Lamont! 8/10 for you and your cohorts.

These are pretty high grades, 365.

I know. I am aware. We are not done.

Music and Editing

Before I talk about Tina Turner’s song, I have one thing to say...the triangle guy in the orchestra was having a FIELD DAY. My girlfriend and I watched this together, and she noticed it first. Now I can’t unhear it. Everybody wants to be heard...even the triangle guy. Listen to the theme from the tank sequence, you won’t be able to unhear the triangle guy going CRAZY back there. 

OK, the opening sequence might’ve been crazy compared to others, but the song was...pretty good. Absolutely not my favorite Bond song (GOOOOOOOOOLD-FINGAAAAAAH-WHAP-WHAAAAAAAP-WAAAAAAAAAAH), but still good. And the rest of the music for the movie is good...but I won’t be buying the soundtrack, sorry to say. Still, Éric Serra did a good job, I mean that. With all that said, 8/10.

Gee, 365, you sure you don’t like this movieGIVE IT A GODDAMNSECONDOK???

Plot and Writing

...Hey, uh...you OK? Looks like your eyes have gone blank there, 365. You all ri-wait...wait, what are you doing with your thighs? No! NOOOOOOOOO-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHATETHEWRITINGANDPLOTINTHISGODDAMNMOVIE

OK, take a breathtakeabreathtakeabreathtakeaBREATH. The plot and writing of this goddamn movie cripples EVERYTHING ELSE IT HAD GOING FOR IT for me. And for the duration of the film, I’ve been trying to figure it out. What was it? I’m gonna have to break it into pieces here.

Plot first. At the end of the day, the plot isn’t actually bad in and of itself. However...it is the most UNORIGINAL, HACKNEYED, SPY MOVIE, JAMES BOND CLAPTRAP THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN. The entire film just feels scripted, and not in a good way. And I know that, logically, some things are going to stay the same. He’s gonna get the girl, there’s going to be a dastardly villain, there’ll be gadgets, Bond’ll be cool, and there’s the music. Let’s take the music out of it, obviously, and look at the other core elements of a Bond film, shall we?

The Girl: I might’ve liked Natalya, but the characters had NO chemistry. Can’t say that about Brosnan and Izabella, they did fine with what they were given. But the characters weren’t given a single satisfying reason to get together. They needed to either meet earlier, or you needed to give her something in her character to get her to convincingly fall for Natalya. The work needs to be done with her. Because, let’s face it: James Bond is a man-whore. It’s literally a part of his character definition. He doesn’t need an excuse to fall for her, she needs an excuse to fall for him. And we never get a convincing reason for their relationship. Ever.

The Villain: Gaaaaaaah, Alec! Alec was actually an interesting character! His motivations actually did make sense, and play on a VERY tough event in the history of the UK. While it certainly doesn’t justify his actions, it definitely makes him more three-dimensional. Which is why it’s a shame that the film works so hard to flatten him out. They turn him from an intriguing individual, to someone whose ultimate goal is to steal ALL OF THE MONEY IN LONDON!!! MUUUUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!! This guy is a Baron Zemo, a THANOS. Doing terrible things for understandable reasons. Should’ve leaned into that more, instead of just turning him into Evil James Bond. One of the biggest failures of this movie, seriously.

Gadgets: WHAT GODDAMN GADGETS??? The acetylene torch at the dam? Barely a gadget, and you know it. The car? NOPE! Agent Wade takes it away! Here’s an ideaUSE THE CAR IN ST. PETERSBURG. Instead of TEARING UP DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG. Real subtle, Bond, real great work AS A SPY, YOU FUCKLEHEAD!!! What about the pen? Oh, the one he uses by ACCIDENT? Yeah, not counting that either. The belt? Nope, not even touched. And lastly, I cannot stress this enough, WHY WOULD YOU TEASE ME WITH THE GODDAMN CAR MISSILES, AND DO NOTHING WITH THEM??? Yeah. Still not over the car thing, I mean that. Enraged. So enraged.

James Bond: Pierce...you did a good job. You did a great job, even. It’s not you. It’s the writing. See, Bond lines used to be cool. But then, Schwarzenegger happened. And Stallone happened. And literally the entirety of the 1980s and early ‘90s happened. And all during that, Bond was still around, and still pumping out movies. All of Connery’s wit and cunning got Flanderized into almost a parody of the original character. And Brosnan...Brosnan does his damndest with those puns. Those awful...AWFUL...puns. If they were here and there, sure, I could’ve taken it. But at times, it felt like EVERY OTHER LINE!!! At a certain point, the film felt less like a Bond film, and more like a parody of a Bond film. EXCEPT, that unlike Austin Powers, IT. WASN’T. FUCKING. FUNNY. But you may have noticed something...that has nothing with the plot. That’s all writing. OK, let’s get into it.

The writers need help; they were clearly locked in a room for too long until they came up with “good puns.” It didn’t work. And the problem stretches far outside of the puns. Lemme give you an example, yeah? At one point, Valentin asks if Bond has “joined the 21st century,” then notes that M is now a woman. That comment makes no sense in two ways. One, that phrase is meant to state that an individual is somehow dated, out of touch with the present, stuck in the past. Yet, working for a woman is most certainly a more modern trait, so that makes no sense. And secondly, THIS IS 1995, IN THE 20TH CENTURY. And that’s a relatively minor nitpick, at the tip of the iceberg of this film. There are plot holes, missed opportunities...long story short (too late), the writing is TERRIBLE. It’s goddamn awful. It’s so awful...that I’m going for 1/10. Yeah. This movie PISSED ME OFF.

There. You get it now? Most of the elements of the movie were fine, but the writing TORE it for me. Which leaves us with…

A 68%.

*wakes up* W---WHAT? You tried to Xenia me, and you still gave it a 70%? What about the whole “My score will not be that high” thing? HUH?

I mean...it wasn’t. The average rating on Rotten Tomatoes was a 71%. Mine’s a 68%.

Because here’s the thing: it’s honestly not a bad movie. It just infuriates me for one reason. By all other metrics, this movie’s totally fine. It’s just the unoriginal plot and cringeworthy writing that tears it down a peg. Just imagine if the writing was good. This movie would be considered one of the best action movies, instead of just once of the best James Bond movies. And even then, if you ranked these movies by Tomatometer, GoldenEye’s only #9. That’s beneath Lazenby, a Moore, two Craigs, and the first four Sean Connerys. In other words, it’s the worst Bond movie I’ve ever seen...and I’ve only seen the first four Connery movies. So, really, this rating makes sense when you think about it.

There it is: a good action film with shitty writing. That’s GoldenEye. And PLEASE disagree with me, I’m one of the outliers with this movie. It is a beloved classic for many, and I respect that. But for me...it’s a 68%. Just my opinion.

But this isn’t fair. I want me a good Bond movie, or at least one that I like. Already seen Goldfinger, so...let’s go for the Bond after Brosnan, shall we?

January 15, 2021: Casino Royale (2005)

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part26)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:3140

Warnings: Language

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning you couldn’t wait to talk to Shannon so you opened up the tablet, clicked the video chat app, and chose your only contact. For some people, one contact might seem lonely, but for you, that one contact was all you needed. 

She accepted the call and her stunning face lit up the window as you pulled your coffee close to your lips. 

“Morning, Y/N,” she greeted, pouring her own coffee, a tired look on her face. 

“Morning, hun.” You waved to her. “Any big plans for the day?” you wondered. 

“Kinda,” she answered after swallowing some coffee. 

You perked an eyebrow up. “Oh? I’m intrigued. What’s on the agenda?”

“Hoping to finish creating that surprise for you two,” she informed. 

You frowned at her, confused. “I thought the tablet was my surprise?” 

She smiled widely and giggled. “Nope, that’s for us to chat. But there’s this research I’ve been doing for a few months now but still no result. I feel like I’m missing something.” 

“What research?” you blurted out, not able to resist asking.

“It’s got to do with the genetic mutation in identical twins,” she informed. “Here. If you go to your office, you can project my notes and data from the camera that’s set up there. Just double tap the screen when you get there.”

You nodded and took your coffee and tablet to the office in the adjoining room, while she sent the files down to your cell. 

“Everything is there. I’m just having trouble identifying how it is that one of the two ends up with a mutation while the other doesn’t,” she commented, sounding frustrated. 

“Have you listened to Bach?” you asked, knowing that every time she listened to him, it jogged her mind. 

She stared at you through the tablet and deadpanned, “What do you think?” 

You laughed and held your hands up “Okay, okay. Fraternal or maternal twins? Raised in the same environment? What are Tony’s thoughts? Banner’s? They have a lot of experience with mutation… Did you call Charles?”

“Depends on the case. I have a few sets that are paternal and some there is a turn off, but they have the opposite effect with the mutations from each side. Tony doesn’t know. He is not really aware of what happened. Banner… he can help with just a small amount. The thing with the experience on mutation is that you know Bruce and becoming the Hulk but there’s not much you can get out of it because even his own studies have led to very little.” She began to read in her ledgers. “Speaking of, I’m actually I’m going to contact Charles later today. Hopefully he’s not that busy, and neither is Logan, and they can probably run some tests, figure out some stuff. Probably hit the ring to see what triggers some of my powers.”

Your face fell a little bit, remembering how you used to visit Charles with her. It made you miss him and all of the X-Men… “Oh, are your powers… bad? I mean.. Like, you haven’t consulted Charles in a long time,” you noted. 

She glanced over to the screen, noticing the change in your tone. 

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. It’s not really any of my business if you powers aren’t going quite right,” you stated, laughing somewhat nervously, a pang of guilt hitting your gut. 

“Don’t worry, Y/N. It’s not that they’re bad. It’s just… they’re changing. I used to take people’s powers temporarily, but now, I can store them. And the shapeshifting and the flying. I’m rapidly mutating and I’m not sure what’s causing it…”

You nodded, listening to her, worried for her, and angry that you were locked in a cell with no way to help her. 

“Y/N… do you remember that one kid at the mansion who would feed off people's emotions and it became what he felt?” she asked, looking at you, hoping you remembered. 

Sadly, you didn’t, so you shook your head. “No, who was that?” 

“I can’t remember his name, but he had bumped into me one of those few times I went to train. And it seems I absorbed some of his powers and that what might be messing me up. It used to be very subtle, but now… now I can hardly get through an emotional event without it draining on me. Like when Steve had to carry me out,” she reminded. 

“You think it’s damaging you,” you said, summarizing for her. 

“I think it is,” she agreed. “If it’s emotionally strong, positive or negative, I just… The fight I had with Tony?”

“Yeah?” 

“I was so mad at what he was saying I hadn’t realized my weather powers had triggered and mixed with the laser beams I took from Cyclops and it mixed with your purple energy and things were thrown at Tony when I yelled at him. Thankfully one of his suits was there or I might have hurt him.”

You muttered, “I know what that’s like.” 

Shannon stopped what she was doing and put down her pen, giving you her full attention. “What do you mean you know what it’s like?” A moment later she added, “If you’re comfortable telling me, that is.”

“Ever since Thanos put this--” You showed your purple dark energy and then made it disappear “--inside me, it’s turned me into someone else… I was so angry all the time, at everything. It’s much better now, but I still get so much rage.” You looked up at the camera, facing her. “So I know what it’s like to not quite know what’s happening to your body… To have this… power… but it destroys you.” 

“It does. I’ve noticed I can’t keep up during training with Nat. Both of us being a part of the Red Room, we’ve kept to training like they taught us, but I’m just not as fast as I used to be.” She shrugged and looked a bit sullen. “It’s all still here,” she noted, pointing at her head with her pen. “It’s just that this is giving me trouble.” She closed her eyes, and then opened them, revealing  milky red eyes with purple swirls. 

“I can’t imagine how hard it is for you,” you commented. “To hold all those powers and finding out how to use them and keep them in check.”

“At least it hasn’t taken over… yet,” she remarked, staring down at her hands. 

“It won’t. You’re too strong for that,” you assured. 

Shannon smiled a small bit, glancing up to look at you through the screen, trying to find solace in your words. 

“I was hoping to see if I can get you out of there so that you can come with me to the mansion and we can both figure out what’s going on with our powers?” She sighed and reminded, “Of course, I’ll have to talk to Fury about it.” A groan escaped her just thinking about it, and you smiled slightly, remembering how much she did not like negotiating with the SHIELD director. 

Your face list up a million degrees. “You would really see about that?” 

“Of course. I want us to be able to get the help we need. We shouldn’t have to suffer at the hands of these powers.”

“I’m sort of public enemy number one. Not sure the world is ready for me to be out…” A deep frown followed your statement that didn’t go unnoticed by your friend. 

She lifted an eyebrow. “Well… technically, the world doesn’t know it was you. You know Charles, he’d probably help get you to the mansion without being seen, just to help you.”

A sly smile played on your lips. “Are you suggesting Nightcrawler break me out?” you teased. 

Shannon couldn’t help but start laughing jovially at your comment. “He’d probably have a blast getting out of there! That kid loves scaring Tony.”

You were so overwhelmed with the prospect of getting out, even if it was just for a few hours, that you had almost forgot about your fellow cellmate. Saness colored your face and tone. “I don’t know if I should Leave Loki though… That doesn’t seem… fair that I should get a day pass…” You glanced back toward your bedroom, a guilty look on your face. 

Shannon understood where you were coming from, so she offered, “I mean, it’s only if you want to. Besides, it’s not like we’re going out to shop. It’s to help you progress and reinstate yourself to the world.”

You bit your lip, noticing the wording. Reinstate yourself to the world… Right.. Because you were in prison. 

“Not to make that sound like you’re a felon!” she loudly corrected, turning back to the screen with a look of embarrassment. 

You waved it off. It wasn’t her fault you were in the situation you were in. 

“Let me talk to Loki?” you requested with raised eyebrows. “But I would love to see everyone again, and figure out how to get… this side of me out.” 

“Of course! Take whatever time you need. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to contact Charles, so let me know whenever you’ve made a decision.”

“I will. Thank you, Shannon. In the meantime, do you have anything physics related I can study? I am going bonkers down here…” You paused for a moment, before asking, “Does Tony mind you talking to me? Or sharing data? I mean, he’s still pissed at me… right?” 

This time, it was her turn to wave you off. “Forget Tony, he’s my problem, not yours.” She looked at you and smiled. “I could get you whatever Jane’s left unfinished? There are a few new things she got here.” She pointed to a stack of files on the nearby desk. 

“Please, send me anything, otherwise this gold mine is going to rot,” you joked, pointing to your head. 

“Well we can’t have that now, can we?” She giggled before talking to JARVIS. “JARVIS, send whatever files are in our system from Jane’s recent studies down to Y/N’s office.”

“Right away, Ms. Shannon. Is there anything else?”

“Let me know when Fury will be coming by the Tower or the complex, please?” 

“Yes, Ms. Shannon.”

“The files should be ready for you to look through, now. I’ll make sure any new data gets sent to you too.” Meanwhile, she was nodding her head while looking at the holographic data in front of her, swiping it to and fro. 

“I’ll let you get back to your work,” you offered, trying to hide the sadness in your voice. But her work and research was more important than keeping a prisoner like you company. 

She hummed. “Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry. I just have a deadline for this and--”

“Shan, it’s fine,” you assured genuinely with a soft smile. 

She seemed to be relieved by your words. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later, okay? Don’t forget to talk to Loki and let me know?”

“I’ll let you know by the end of the day.”

“Thanks. Talk to you soon.”

The call ended. 

But no part of you could even be sad, for this had been the best gift you’d gotten in some time. Other than being allowed to share a cell with Loki, this was the next best thing.

-----------------------------

Loki was still asleep during your conversation with Shannon, but when he woke up and you made him a nice brunch, you decided to dive right into the touchy subject of you getting a day pass, and not him. 

“Uh, Loki,” you started as he ate his meal. 

“Yes, darling?” he asked, glancing up to you. 

You wrung your hands, knowing how this sounded. That you would be leaving Loki behind, that you were gaining freedom and he wasn’t. That you were not, in fact, equals, as you had said you’d been. As you always tried to prove to him. 

“Shannon.. She has an idea…”

“Is it an idea to break out of this?” he asked, pointing around with his eyes. 

“Well… actually… kind of.” 

He peered at you with a curious frown. 

“I told her about my powers, about how the thing Thanos pout in me is dark and it wears on me…” 

“Yes?” 

“Well… she’s going to Charles Xavier to get her powers looked at. It seems she has a mutation that’s causing her issues… And she said she might be able to get me a pass to sort of… go with her,” you informed nervously. You were so worried Loki would simply see this as a way of you gaining freedom, while he stayed behind. Or that you were somehow distancing yourself from him. 

“So you would get to leave?” he clarified. 

“Yes. She’s going to talk to Fury, and see if it’s even possible. It’s more like a trip to the doctor. I’ll be going to see if he can do anything about the power not being so…”

“Evil?” 

Your gaze slid to his as you nodded.

“My love, if you need to go, go. It will be nice for at least one of us to leave this cell, even if it’s just for a day.”

“Really?” you asked, hope swelling inside you.

“Yes, of course. Go, do whatever you need. I’ll be here when you get back,” he said with a sly smile and you couldn’t help but round the kitchen island and hug him tightly. 

-----------------------

As Shannon closed down her work and research for the day, she stepped out of the lab, somewhat exhausted, but simultaneously refreshed. It was amazing how just talking to you had lifted her spirit so much. She had only made it a few steps when Tony came up and greeted her. 

“Hey, babe. Mind walking with me?’ he asked.

“Ugh, Tony, I’m so tired... I think I just want to go sit and read for a little bit,” she said, hoping she wouldn’t offend him. 

“That’s fine, I just thought we could have a quick bite together?” he wondered, his eyebrows perched up,wanting to guilt her in with his innocent, irresistible look. 

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Alright, alright. Yeah, let’s go grab a bite. What did you have in mind?” she asked as he led her down the hall toward the kitchen and dining area. 

As soon as the two of them rounded the corner, she was greeted with the Avengers and some other colleagues from around the tower. The people she’d hidden herself away from for the last several days.

“Surprise!” the group yelled. 

“What’s all this?” she asked, befuddled, a warm grin on her face. 

“We noticed you looked a little down,” Clint noted. 

“And you just got back,” Bruce added. 

“So they thought it would be nice to have a little welcome home dinner. Nothing fancy, just… the tower isn’t the same without you, babe,” Tony said, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” she said with a humble, sweet smile. 

“Nonsense!” Steve objected as Tony let go of her and Steve’s arm replaced it. “You deserve it. We all missed you.” 

“Well, thank you, all of you. I missed you too.”

---------------------------

Sometime later that evening, you called Shannon on the video chat. The AI found her closest device and opened up, displaying where she was. 

“Hey, Sha--” Was all you got out before you saw what was going on around her. It appeared to be a small party. Shannon had a drink in her hand, as did all the Avengers and a few other people you didn’t recognize. She was laughing and hitting Nat’s arm, while Tony and Clint were smiling and talking. Bruce seemed to be having a good time with the strangers, talking. 

At first, you were happy, a smile pulling at your lips, but just as you were about to join in, you realized -- you couldn’t. You couldn’t open your mouth and tell a joke, you couldn’t say anything to anyone… Because you were locked away, several floors below them, paying for your crime. Even if you did try to blend in, even if you did try to get anyone’s attention, you would be met with a resounding “fuck off”. Who knew what kind of pandemonium would’ve erupted if they knew you were contacting them. 

With a sad sigh, you swiped over to the texting app and sent Shannon a text, telling her that you were good to go.

You switched back to the video app, where Shannon pulled out her phone, smiled at it, typed a quick response, and pocketed it again. 

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to Fury,” she sent back.

Your face fell and you were about to close the app when you noticed Steve Rogers was looking at you. It seemed he had just glanced up. Your eyes met but you didn’t have it in you to try and smile to be polite. Steve gazed at you, and if you weren’t mistaken, you saw… sympathy in his eyes, in his slight frown. He gave you a tiny nod, and you returned it before your gaze dropped. 

Unable to bear the sadness, and downright pity for yourself, you closed the video app. Steve looked away, feeling sorry for you, but tried to get back to the party. 

Sulking, you closed the tablet and left it on the coffee table to get up and go to bed. 

Loki peered up at you from his magazine, a worried frown etched into his stunning features. “Darling?” 

“Hmm?” you hummed.

“Is everything alright? I thought you were going to call Shannon?” 

You turned slowly to face him. “Uh, I did. She was busy so… I'll catch up with her tomorrow,” you said, hoping to hide your disappointment. 

“Are you sure? You seem upset,” he commented as he stood and came over to you, putting his hands on your arms. 

“I’m fine,” you lied. 

He peered down at you with peculiarity. “If you’re not fine, you know you can tell me. If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll understand.”

You smiled up at him, loving that you could tell him anything. “Alright, that’s fair. I'm not fine, but I don’t feel like talking about it.” 

He smiled. “There we are.” He kissed your forehead. “I’m here if you need me.”

“I know,” you assured before leaning up to kiss him earnestly, but quickly. “Thank you. I just want to go to bed for now. I’ll let you know if I feel like talking.”

“Goodnight, darling. I’ll be in shortly,” he promised with warmth. He let go of you and you nodded slightly before heading to bed and curling up in your bed. The bed you lived in for the last several months… the bed you would probably live the rest of your life in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​​ @bubblyanarocks3​​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​​ @kaelingoat​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​​ @damalseer​​ @heyitscam99​​ @yknott81​​ @sorryimacrapwriter​​ @glitterquadricorn​​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​​ @alyssaj23​​ @sea040561​​ @princess76179​​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​​ @sarahp879​​ @malfoysqueen14​​ @ellallheart​​ @breezy1415​​ @marvelmayo​​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton

@paintballkid711​

Loki: @lostinspace33​​ @ultrarebelheart​​ @lenawiinchester​​ @esoltis280​​ @tngrayson​​ @wangdeasang​​ @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC:

@lokis-high-priestess​

[rogueninja]

Okay so we all know who your top ships are... who are your unpopular ships? Or obscure ships? What characters from what series do you think about often in either good or bad ways? Who is a character that you hate that others love? If you could rewrite a story or part of a book, what would it be and what would you do differently?

Ok I am digging through my brain right now bc if I’m not able to hyperfixate on something then I tend to forget I even liked it. Ok buckle in bc this is gonna be long af. YOU ASKED FOR THIS, REG.

I’m putting a readmore so as not to torture my followers lol

Thinking about Veronica Mars. About Veronica/Logan. Do they have a ship name?? But I love that show and i was THERE for them. They were kind of a surprise ship for me, in that when they got together I was like, wait, WHAT? Like I was totally caught off guard. But there first kiss is, like, sooo romantic to me haha. It’s my fave scene in the show. But Logan is suck a prick sometimes. And they break up like every five minutes. And every season Logan gets accused of murder which of course he ends up not being the murderer. And they get back together eventually and I’m like really? But deep down I am rooting for them lol. I really enjoyed the new season of Veronica Mars that came out last year, actually. The ending made me SO SAD THO.

I also used to watch Supergirl and I thought Kara and Mon-El were adorable. He was very Carswell Thorne-esque, RH, I *think* you would like him. I never watched past season 3(?) though, and he shoots off into space and I never caught up so a few months ago I actually googled what happens and [spoiler] he ends up marrying someone else in the future or something so I was like, ok I’m not investing any more time in this show lol. (Also I had to google Mon-El’s name just now bc i forgot which is a bad look BUT I WAS REALLY RIDE OR DIE FOR THEM FOR A WHILE lol). Also I loved Martian Manhunter in this show, he was my favorite character. But the CGI for him was awful, omg. He had practical makeup at first, they should have just stuck with that.

Speaking of Martian Manhunter, I also used to watch Young Justice and loved Miss Martian/Superboy. Am I basic??? lol oop. But I love basic love stories. Anyway, I thought they were super cute. In season 3 though they’re kind of on the rocks. I haven’t watched season 4. I also loved Artemis/Wally West, but of course that had to end tragically.

Also, let’s talk about Nightcrawler. Allow me to set the scene. Little Kat is 13 and just rediscovered the cartoon she saw a few times as a kid called X-Men: Evolution. And thus, a weird obsession with the German, blue demon boy began. I loved Kurt Wagner. In the cartoon he starts a relationship with Amanda Sefton and I thought they were a-dor-a-ble. She accepted him for who he was, and they had a really nice healthy relationship. A lot of ppl shipped him with Kitty too which i am honestly all for idec I JUST WANT THE BLUE BOI TO BE HAPPY.

Can we talk about A:TLA too??? Like, obviously Zutara, amiright? Power couple. Like, Kataang is.. fine, but its probably my least favorite part about the ending, haha. Also, consider: Tokka. Toph is bae and can get anyone she wants, and she clearly had kind of a crush on Sokka and I think they could have been awesome. It actually kills me that they never say who Lin and Suyin’s father is in LoK. I had a whole theory that it was that kid The Duke from Jet’s band based on like 2 scenes from the series. There’s a tumblr post I made about it somewhere in the ether lol.

I also just remembered Tahnorra (Tahno/Korra) from Legend of Korra. It’s hard for me to explain this one. It’s a weird combination of being hyperfixated on the first season of the show when it came out, and I think I stumbled upon some fic or something???? And I thought Tahno was hot or something??? And FUN FACT, he was voice by Rami Malek BEFORE HE WAS COOL. So like before Rami really got big I knew who he was. He also basically played the Avatar in Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and I thought that connection was hilarious. It was kind of a problematic crack pairing but there was one author in particular whom i follow to this day hoping she’ll update her Tahnorra fics…. *sigh*

Okay one last ship…. I used to be ride or die for Outlaw Queen in Once Upon a Time (aka Regina/Robin Hood). Like, before TLC, I had a personal tumblr renaissance for that ship alone. My only existing published fanfic is for that ship. Taylor Swift’s 1989 came out that year and I related every dang song to that ship. I loved Regina so much and I just wanted her to be happy. That show is a dumpster fire, though, and spat all over my hopes and dreams. *sigh*

Also, lightning round for obscure pairings I ship and/or never talk about:

Frank Castle/Karen Page (The Punisher) ok this one isnt that obscure but I never talk about it… but the pining, oh god the pining

Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (GoT) THEIR 5 SECONDS TOGETHER ARE THE ONLY WORTHY PART OF SEASON 8. everything after that never happened

I already listed Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye (FMAB) as a top pairing previously but I feel the need to mention it again bc it was for real my OG OTP… LIKE U WANNA TALK ABOUT PINING…. *sobs*

Percy/Annabeth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) This used to be my fave book series and i loved how their relationship developed over the course of the books

Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) ok can we TALK ABOUT THIS??? They were both badass misfits and they were perfect for each other. But noooo JKR has to announce they marry some nobodies…. this is the only change the last movie did right

Midna/Link (Zelda: Twilight Princess) I honestly have no explanation for this lol

Qui-gon Jinn and Shmi (Star Wars) CAN U IMAGINE if anakin had a proper father figure and didnt have to abandon his mother to slavery

Obi-wan/Satine…. (Star Wars: The clone Wars) we know whats up

OK, to answer some of your other questions: character I hate that others love. HMMMM…….

This one seems too easy/obvious but Professor Snape? Like obviously there’s already a ton of discourse surrounding this but he was gross, mistreated his students for years, committed atrocities, couldn’t get over his high school crush, and we’re supposed to believe he’s a hero in the end and HARRY WOULD NAME HIS SON AFTER HIM….. uh no. “Always” is gross.

I’ve literally been wracking my brain for days and I can’t think of any more characters for this. OK I did some googling and I remembered some LOL.

Ross from friends…. I literally can’t stand him. He’s so entitled and just the worst. He tries to act like he’s the nice, sensitive guy, but really he is so full of himself. Joey on the other hand is portrayed as a womanizer but is actually super sweet and I love him

Archie from Riverdale… I have only seen the first 1.5 seasons ish but he is the worst…. we’re supposed to believe he’s some easygoing musically gifted football player but instead he manages to pull off being bland as heck and actually kind of a terrible garbage person

Nick from chilling adventures of Sabrina. I hate characters that are like hitting on the main character even though she has a bf and are like dark and broody and sexy blah blah blah…. I liked Harvey way better. I never finished season 2 tho

Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time? Idk she was fine she just got old after a while

If you could rewrite a story or part of a book, what would it be and what would you do differently?

HM. First, Harry would name his son Remus Rebeus Potter LOL. Ok but real talk there was a headcanon floating around forever ago that Harry should have become a professor at Hogwarts instead of an auror and I am 100% on board

Ok, ok….. what abouuuttt…… OK, is star wars when Han and Leia get together. I like them as a couple, but the entire first half of the movie Han is being such an ass. And when they kiss the first time, he’s being SOOO creepy. It’s like so quintessentially 80s romance. and HERE’S THE THING. They actually filmed (or maybe just wrote?) a version of that scene that WASNT CREEPY. And i’m like WHY DIDNT YOU USE THAT?!? So I like to pretend that’s the version that actually happened.

This part is way harder than the shipping portion. If I think of anything else i’l dm you. I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS NOVEL LENGTH POST OF ME RAMBLING ABOUT MY FIXATIONS OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS. If anyone actually read this far, you deserve a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket

[poisonivysparks]

Drugged Up Confessions {Peter Maximoff X Reader}

People stared at me while they drove by. I was laying in a ditch on the side of the road, left for dead. Sure, I looked almost completely different from a normal person, but it was no reason not to do anything about a person stuck on the side of the road.

I looked different because I was purple, had sharp teeth, bright gold eyes, and a long, spade-like tail. Over the course of ten years, I had been experimented on, tested, and tortured in a lab with other people, just like me.

The only person I had really seen, was a man with curly, red hair and lots of freckles on his chubby cheeks. He had disappeared about a year ago and I hadn’t seen him since then.

I curled up into a fetal position in a futile attempt to keep myself warm, since the winds were howling above me. I tried to think of when times were better, even though they were still kind of bad. I thought of my times in the Munich Circus with my twin, Kurt, or Nightcrawler as they called him back then.

We had been close, up until the time I had been bought by a man named Bolivar Trask. I was sent to his laboratory in America, it was one of the most horrible things that had ever happened to me.

I still had a slight German accent from my time in Germany, it had never gone away, nor faltered.

Suddenly, a car stopped and somebody got out.

“Are you okay?” An unfamiliar man’s voice asked, in a tender tone.

“I-I’m alright.” I sat up, sniffling. He looked really nice, nerdy glasses, a tiny bit of stubble, and a kind face. He had a yellow aura around him, meaning that he was happy.

“I-I can take you to a safe place, for people like us, I promise that I won’t hurt you. I’m Hank McCoy, a teacher there.” He said, putting a hand out for me to grab.

“What do you mean, ‘like us?’” I asked him, pulling myself up.

“We’re mutants, I work at a school for mutants.” He told me, walking over to his car.

“A-are you sure you are not going to hurt me?” I asked, following him wearily.

“I promise.” He said simply, opening the passenger door for me.

I entered the car, trusting him completely, I could always teleport out if I wanted to.

We drove for a while in silence, I felt quite awkward. He ended up pulling down a nice looking driveway with trees around it.

A few teens, about my age, were hanging around the trees, smoking and laughing with their friends, it was winter, but they didn’t seem to mind. They were all happy, a yellow aura around them.

Little patches of snow were on the ground since it was January. The air was frigid and cold, ice covering the road.

Hank turned into a garage, parking the car right after, went over to the passenger side door, and opened it for me.

“Th-thank you.” I stuttered, getting out of the car, my long and outgrown hair flowing behind me.

“It’s no problem. Now, come with me, the Professor will want to see you.” He told me, walking out of the garage, out into the freezing air.

“The Professor?” I asked, following him. He went up to a large, oak door and knocked.

“You’ll see in a second.” He told me, a happy aura around him, just like everybody else on the property.

“Hank?” A British voice said as the door opened, he had brown hair, blue eyes, and was in a wheelchair. “Why are you knocking?”

Hank motioned to me, and the Brit’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “I found her on the side of the road, she might’ve been from the old Trask Industries laboratory.”

The Brit turned his attention to me. “What’s your name, dear?” He asked me tenderly.

“Y/n Wagner.” I said, a little self-conscious about my accent.

“Hello, Y/n.” He smiled kindly. “I’m Professor Charles Xavier, and this is my school.” We walked inside, well, Charles rolled. I followed Charles into, what looked like, an office. “Would you mind telling me what happened before Hank found you?”

“Well, up until I was about nine, I was in ze circus with my twin, Kurt. Then, I was bought by Bolivar Trask, and tested on in America. Oh, I also saw this boy, he had curly, red hair, lots of freckles and kind of chubby cheeks.” I told them as their faces dropped.

“Sean? Was his name Sean?” Charles asked, looking frantic.

“I do not know, I’m sorry,” I told them.

“Well, I think we need to get you a room.” Charles smiled sadly, a blue aura around him.

~Time Skip to June~

I had been living on the campus for six months and made a friend, just one, her name was Jean. She was also a social outcast, just like me, except she didn’t have any appearance altering powers. We had somehow made friends with the new kid, Scott. Jean obviously liked him, her aura turning pink whenever she was around him. I admired their subtle affections towards each other.

I hadn’t told anybody, except Jean, about what happened before I got to the school, I hid all of my emotions behind a smile and took on everybody else’s problems to cover my own.

I was sitting on a couch with Jubilee and Jean, Scott had gone off to do God-knows-what.

I heard two sets of approaching footsteps and looked up from the conversation we were having. I saw Scott walk through and- my breath caught in my throat, it seemed like I was suffocating, quickly, I leap to my feet.

“K-Kurt? B-bruder(brother)?” My voice cracked as tears sprung to my eyes. Yellow eyes, mirroring my own, made contact with me.

“Schwester? (Sister)” I ran up to Kurt and tackled him into a hug. We tumbled across the floor slightly as we held each other close and twined our tails as a sign of affection. Happy tears streamed down my face as we hugged each other sitting on the ground. He had a bright yellow aura around him and tears in his eyes.

“Bruder, es war zu lang. Ich habe dich sehr vermisst.” (Brother, it has been too long. I have missed you dearly.) We started a small conversation in German as we still held each other, craving the contact of the other half of our souls, even if we weren’t twins we would have been very close, but being twins just made us even closer.

I heard a cough interrupt our conversation, I looked up to see Jean, Jubilee, and Scott staring, they seemed to be speechless at our heartfelt reunion.

“Sorry, sorry. This is my twin, Kurt Vagner.” We stood up, our tails still intertwined, as if we let go the other would disappear, which is quite possible because we could both teleport.

“We can tell...” Scott said as I put my five-fingered hand into Kurt’s three-fingered one.

“I still can’t believe that it’s been ten years since I’ve seen you, Y/n.” Kurt said, looking at me.

“I know, I’ve missed you,” I told him as he hugged me tightly.

“Y’know, these two have never been to a mall before, why don’t we show them some real American culture?” Scott said, and the two girls agreed.

“I heard the new Star Wars movie is in theaters, we could get the two some new clothes,” Jean suggested.

“Does anybody know where the Professor keeps his cars?” Scott asked, looking at all of us.

“I do.” I raised my hand up.

“Great.” He smiled evilly.

~Time Skip~

It was now August and super hot, me and Kurt had become practically attached at the hip. He knew all of my secrets and I knew all of his. Peter and I had also become close, we had been assigned as roommates since the boys’ dorms were all full. I had a slight crush on Peter, but I knew he wouldn’t love me back.

“Ich weiß, dass du ihn magst. (I know you like him)” Kurt told me as we sat down on a bench in the hedge maze.

“Kurt, Ich tue nicht. (I do not)” I told him, my cheeks heating up.

“Ja, Sie tun, versuchen Sie es nicht zu leugnen. (Yes, you do, don’t deny it)” He told me, poking at my sides. I laughed and slapped his hand away.

A silver blur crossed by us and I knew exactly who it was. Peter.

“Why do you guys always talk in German? Nobody ever knows what the hell you’re saying.” Peter said, squishing between me and the arm of the concrete bench.

“That’s the point.” I smiled at him, and a weird purple aura appearing around him, I had no idea what it meant.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like it.” He huffed, the purple becoming green, I didn’t know what the green meant either.

“Well, you have to deal with it.” I told him, crossing my arms playfully. Suddenly, the loud bell rang, signaling that we were late for our next class, which just happened to be training.

“Fuck, why am I always late?” He said and sped off, leaving me and Kurt to teleport there.

We did just that and got scolded a little bit by Mystique, she didn’t seem to like us very much.

Mr. McCoy started up the Danger Room and robots emerged from the wall, all we had to do was fight them for a while.

My brother and I were teaming up on the robot, while the others had their own robots to fight. Kurt and I were doing really well, until, suddenly, the robot swung at me, knocking me against the wall.

I fell to the ground and tried to teleport, but I just flashed red and stayed in the same spot.

Mystique and Kurt immediately ran over to me.

“No! My baby.” Mystique ran to my side and started stroking my hair, her aura was blue and pink, sadness and love.

“Why did you call me that?” I asked, coughing up a little bit of blood.

“I-I....” She trailed off and then I noticed the slight similarities between her and Kurt’s face.

“Are you my” I asked, suddenly realizing something. “Mutter?” (Mother)

She nodded, and Kurt looked at her in shock.

I felt extremely tired, and closed my eyes. “No! Y/n, please don’t fall asleep.” Kurt’s voice sounded distant and echoey.

~!Peter’s PoV!~

I sat next to Y/n’s unconscious body, she had gotten knocked out earlier that day and had only woken up in two-minute segments, spouting absolute nonsense, because of the medicine McCoy gave her. Kurt and Mystique were in and out, they both started crying when they saw her, though.

I saw her eyes flutter open and she sits up a bit, seeming to be in a daze. She looks over to me with a puzzled look on her face and I heard her speak.

“Kevin? Is that you?” Wait… who the hell is Kevin? I thought to myself, But she continued to babble, thinking I was this Kevin person.

“Kevin, I need to get something off of my chest.” She slurred to me.

“I am madly in love, with an oblivious idiot that can’t take a hintttt…” She elongated the word hint. Wait… I looked into her eyes.

“Who is the idiot you're in love with (Y/n)?”

“His name is Peter, I like to call him Quicksilver though.” She slurred to me, and my face turned bright pink.

“He doesn’t realize that I like him, zough, because he can’t take a hint” She whined like a child to me and my face became redder than it was already.

“I’m sure he likes you too (Y/n).” As I tried to get her to lay down to sleep again, red faced as a tomato.

“Do you really think that?” She asked, closing her eyes.

“Yes, I really do.” Her breathing slowed and her whole body relaxed.

| Y/n’s PoV | (In a Nightmare)

I was trapped in a room, crying. All of my closest friends, Jean, Scott, Jubilee, my family, Kurt and Mystique, and the one person that I loved with all of my heart, Peter.

They were all screaming in agony, held down by leather straps and being electrocuted. The big window in front of me was all I could look through, and it terrified me, their auras were all bright red, they were in intense pain. I tried to teleport out of there, do something, but I couldn’t.

“That’s horrible.” A voice said from beside me, I turned my head to see Sean.

“Everybody I know is in there.” I told him, tears leaking out of my eyes.

“You do realize that Trask industries closed down last month, right?” He crossed his arms and I looked at him in shock.

“W-what is this then?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Some people call it a hallucination, but most people call it a dream.” He leaned up against the wall, arms crossed.

“How do I get out?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“I dunno, I’m just kinda here.” He shrugged his shoulders, walking around freely.

“I heard that some people have to die to get out of their dreams,” I told him, trying to move my legs and succeeding. I walked over to him and tried to touch him, but he was transparent and ghost-like.

“Wake up, Y/n, please.” I heard an echoey voice from somewhere far off, I couldn’t tell who it was. “Everybody’s worried about you.”

The voice sounded familiar, but it was distorted and seemed lower than it was supposed to be.

I looked through the window and saw that Peter was gone, the straps were still tied and nothing had moved, but Peter was not there.

I curled up into a fetal position, completely scared of what would happen, I stayed there for what seemed like hours, the voice fading away.

Quickly, I closed my eyes, hoping to go back to the real world, where I could be with my family and my friends.

~In the Real World~

I sat up, my eyes wide open, nobody was in the bland, all white, infirmary. “Peter? Kurt? Jean? Mystique?” I called out, my voice echoing throughout the room.

I heard footsteps and a ‘bamf.’

“Y/n!” Kurt’s accented voice rang out and he hugged me tightly, his aura was bright yellow.

“Kurt, you are squishing me.” I told him as he let go.

“Sorry,” He apologized. “You passed out about six hours ago and I vas worried about you.” He said.

Mystique rushed in, about a minute after her son and her aura the same as her sons. “We heard your voice.” She said, hugging me.

“I’m okay, I promise,” I told them, hugging her tightly.

“Peter was in here for a while.” Kurt told me and my cheeks flushed fuchsia. “He was worried, just like the rest of us, stayed here longer than any of us.”

“He was?” I asked, a hopeful tone in my voice.

“Well, yeah.” Kurt said plainly as I tried to get up. He held me down and pushed me into the hard bed.

“Kurt! I want to get up! I’m feeling a lot better.” I told him, crossing my arms and pouting.

“I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea, Y/n.” Mystique told me, sitting down on the bedside chair.

“Why can’t we just ask Mr. McCoy?” I asked, a little mad.

“I can go ask him.” Kurt volunteered, raising his hand.

“Thank you. Kurt.” I hugged him and he bamfed away.

He came back after a few minutes, Hank in tow. Hank quickly went over to the IV machine that was hooked up to my arm, his aura was a soft yellow.

“You’re vital’s are good, does anything hurt?” He asked and I nodded.

“I’m a little sore, but otherwise, I’m good. May I get out of this bed now?” I smiled at him, trying to use my adorableness in my favor.

“Yeah, you can, just don’t do anything drastic, you’re in recovery.” He told me, unhooking the IV from my vein.

“Thank you!” I got up and hugged him, my limbs incredibly sore.

I teleported to Kurt’s side and our tails intertwined.

“You guys are adorable.” Mystique said, laughing a little bit. “My two babies.”

Hank looked completely lost and confused, looking between Me, Kurt, and Mystique. “Did something happen, or..?”

“Are really that blind, Hank?” Mystique asked, laughing.

“I don’t know, I mean, I do wear glasses.” He said, adjusting his glasses.

“These are my kids.” She laughed as Hank’s eyes widened.

“W-what?” He stuttered. “So, um, you guys are Darkhölme’s?”

“I-I guess so.” Kurt said, resting his elbow on the top of my head.

“Get is off of me, Kurt. I am not a baby.” I grumpily pushed his arm off, giving Kurt the stink eye.

“Okay, Y/n, you should probably go get some exercise,” Hank said, smiling at me and Kurt.

“Alright.” I smiled back at him and bamfed out of the room and into the garden, leaving Kurt behind.

Peter was sitting on the same concrete bench that Kurt and I were sitting on earlier that day, a few purple flowers in his hands. It was almost completely dark outside and he looked kind of sad, his aura was blue with green tips.

“Peter!” I yelled waving my hand.

He heard my voice and looked right at me, his aura turning a bright yellow. “Y/n! You’re awake! I was worried that you wouldn’t wake up.” He ran over and hugged me, purple tips appearing around him. He easily lifted me up in the air and my cheeks turned a bright fuschia.

“Peter, you’re squishing me.” I told him, laughing a little bit. The flowers laid slightly damaged in his hands.

“Oh, sorry.” He said, his aura becoming slightly more purple. He set me down, me being very short compared to him.

“It’s alright.” I smiled, showing off my fangs a little bit.

“These are kind of for you, sorry that they’re squished.” His cheeks turned pink and the tips of his purple/yellow aura also became pink.

“It’s alright,” I told him, graciously taking the flowers from him. “They are beautiful, even if they are a little squished.”

“I found them and I wanted to give them to you.” He said, taking a step away from me.

“Thank you.” I told them, smelling the slightly damaged flowers.

“I want to show you something. Come with me, please?” He asked, excitement evident in his hazel eyes.

“Alright.” I smiled and he held me, his hand behind my neck.

“We’ll be there in a second, okay?” He said, a little concerned.

“Okay.” I said and he rushed off, stopping in a very thick patch of trees.

“We’re almost there, it’s just up ahead.” He told me, taking my hand in his and walking at a, surprisingly, slow pace.

“What is it, Peter?” I asked, following him towards a particularly thin patch of trees.

“I can’t tell you that.” He smiled, a mischievous look in his eyes.

We walked into the middle of the thin patch of trees, where a very comfy looking blanket was lying down on the ground.

“I come here almost every night, and just stargaze.” He told me, lying down on the blanket.

“I’ve only been stargazing once in my life, Kurt and I ended up getting in trouble. It vas nice while it lasted.” I told him, lying down next to him, the blanket was very fluffy and warm. His aura turned slightly green, but still yellow.

“Well, now you get to do it with me.” He booped my nose and I giggled slightly.

We watched the stars for a while, pointing out all of the constellations that we knew and some that we didn’t.

“You’re adorable, y’know that?” He said, looking at me, while I pointed out another constellation that I made up.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked, flustered as his aura turned completely pink.

“You. I love you.” He said, looking away from me and back up at the stars. “I love how innocent and adorable you are, I love the faraway look you always have in your eyes. You smile so much and I was so worried that you wouldn’t wake up. Sometimes, it makes me jealous because of the relationship that you have with your brother. You two are adorable and when you talk in German it kinda turns me on. I just love you and I feel like this is all so sudden and I just…”

His words made my cheeks flush and my brain not be able to think clearly. I had no idea what to do so I crashed my lips into his, taking the speedster by surprise.

He kissed me back and it felt like the stars were shining and cheering for us, as if they knew it was going to happen. He easily dominated me, rolling on top as I was pushed even farther into the cosy blanket.

Our lips moved together ravenously, my hands were tangled into his slightly fluffy, silver hair and my tail was curled around his torso. His hands were resting on my hips, barely squeezing, but I could feel it.

We pulled away, breathing heavily, and our foreheads were touching.

“I love you too, Peter.” I smiled while he caressed my purple cheek.

“I think you said that already with your lips.” He chuckled, his hair completely messed up, and I laughed with him.

“I’ve sort of had a crush on you ever since we started sharing a room together.” I told him, embarrassed that I was actually telling him that.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had a crush ever since I first saw you in that facility.” He told me. “And then when I first saw you laughing at my ‘I still live in my mom’s basement’ joke, I was completely head over heels.”

“You’re so sweet.” I hugged him and tackled him to the ground.

He flipped me over, very easily and gave me his signature cocky smirk. “You’ll never beat me, y’know.”

“I know.”  

Masterlist

[spaceorphan18]

Marvel Movie Night: X2 X-Men United

For some reason, I have the full screen version of this.  Not sure what I was thinking when I made that decision.  Anyway....  

What exactly are you a professor of?   Art

There was a time when X2 was considered the best comic book movie ever.  And judging from everything I’ve watched up to this point -- I can understand why it got the reputation.  The film is much more philosophical, the story more intellectually stimulating than a bunch of good guys beat up a bunch of bad guys.  There’s humor to it, and good action, and it makes for a (mostly) good popcorn flick.  But a lot like the first film, it doesn’t hold up nearly twenty years later.  

The story mixes the famous X-Men graphic novel God Love, Man Kills with Wolverine’s backstory.  And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the X-Men’s subtext has always been about the ostracization, fear, and discrimination of minorities, a more intimate and philosophical story may not balance well in an action film filled with characters who mostly don’t get to do things until their one or two scenes happen.  

Watching it over again, I still think it works overall.  The story is relatively tight, weaving the two stories together pretty well -- and Wolverine continues to be the main protagonist.  I think it does a decent job telling the story it’s interested in telling.  But this is where I lament that X-Men isn’t a TV series.  Each of these characters (besides Wolverine) deserve their own stories to be told -- and a two hour film is very limiting when it comes to the character’s own arcs.  X2 is wise not to go crazy chasing every tangent, and stick close to the story, but at the same time, the potential of all these characters often seems wasted.  

The special effects are much better in this film, and the film does take the time to showcase everyone’s powers.  My one big issue with the action, however, is that it’s limited to one person at a time.  What makes X-Men so special is that they’re a team -- and we don’t get to see team dynamics at all in the film, which is a shame, since there are so many good players on the board.  On top of that -- this kind of turn based action kind of makes the film feel sluggish in parts.  (Though - I’m sure it’s just me being a modern action film watcher watching something of a different time.) 

So, let’s talk about the characters, shall we? 

Wolverine - Of course, since Wolverine is the most popular X-Men is going to be focused on.  We get development of his backstory, and I think the bits and pieces we’re given work well.  If you know his backstory, it’s a fun little tease, if you don’t, I’m sure they give enough to piece it together.  The unfortunate thing, however, is that this film is so plot driven, the only character development stuff (besides his backstory) ends up being with Jean and.... ug, I hate this love triangle stuff (but I’ll whine about this later).  

That said - I think my favorite aspect of Wolverine’s story in this film is when he gets to play babysitter.  His actions with the kids make an interesting dynamic, and I could just watch a whole move with Wolverine trying to run a school.  

Professor X and Magneto - Of course, the heart of the philosophical story comes here again, much like it will in every X-Men film.  I very much enjoy any time Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen get to be together on screen.  The unfortunate thing is that there’s so much plot to cover, and so many characters to service, they don’t get a whole lot to do in the film.  But what we do is a delight. 

Jean Grey and Cyclops - I keep laughing every time they say Dr. Grey.  What??  

Anyway, Famke Jansson continues to be a delight as Jean.  Other than Xavier and Magneto, she seems to be the closest to her comic counter part (mostly).  And she does really well with all the hints they lay about the Phoenix force.  It’s a shame the third film is going to truly do a great story a disservice.  

Meanwhile, though, we have Cyclops.  And, geez, I just feel so bad for James Marsden, because he gets such an iconic character to play, and literally has nothing to do with him.  He even overacts in his emotional scenes with Jean, and it’s almost as if he’s like he’s trying make up for not having anything to do.  It’s a real shame because Cyclops, believe it or not, is a fascinating and complex character, who really deserves so much more than the one-note character this trilogy portrays him as.  

As for the love triangle... I hate love triangles in general, but this one is just even worse than usual.  It’s barely a triangle, because the film doesn’t even bother with one third of it.  I could go on a whole diatribe, but I’ll spare you.  If you’d really like to know - send me a message! Otherwise, I’ll leave it at - I hate love triangles. 

Storm - You can tell Halle Berry asked for more to do.  And, like, most of the rest of the characters, she gets more lines, but not much more character development.  I still feel she’s incredibly miscast here.  Where’s the woman who did her voice for the cartoon? That was a Storm. But, Berry’s acting aside, Storm is another character who is complex and varied, and it’s a shame so little of her comes through in these films. 

Nightcrawler -- We get a new character! It’s kinda weird that they steal some of the unpopular traits he has in the comics (the religious leanings) and tone down some of his more notable characteristics -- like his goofing around and swordplay.  I get why they did this, somewhat for plot, somewhat to make philosophical points.  But I do miss the charming, Errol Flynn wanna be of the comics.  That said -- I think Alan Cummings did a great job with his role, and the action sequences with NIghtcrawler look great! 

Rogue and Bobby -- **sigh** I won’t bore you too long with my feelings about Rogue.  Anna Paquin is fine.  The character makes sense for what this universe has made her out to be.  I just... I miss my girl from the comics.  I hope some day we do get to see a closer to comics version of her -- sassy, brassy, and yet very vulnerable.  But -- since the plot doesn’t need her (or her powers) she’s relegated to second string.  

Bobby gets more to do, and having read a ton of comics since this first came out, I have a much bigger appreciation for Iceman.  I love the actor who plays him here - he’s great! I do enjoy the little bit that he gets to do.  And the scene where he ‘comes out’ to his parents is perfect on a lot of levels.  (Even funnier, now that comic book Iceman is gay.)  

I still don’t think, overall, Rogue and Bobby make much sense as a couple, but for the purposes of this universe, it works fine enough. 

The Brotherhood -- Okay, so this is primarily this is Mystique and Pyro.  Where are the others? Well, this film is a little stuffed already.  Mystique is fine - this film has no interest going into her psyche, and while she is a character who deserves development, the next trilogy is going to kill any interest in a film version, so I’m fine here.  I’m still confused as to why she’s naked, though.  I miss her white, flowy dress of the comics.  

Meanwhile, in the comics, Pyro is a third rate villain.  They bring him in here to offset Iceman.  I get it. He’s fine.  Whatever. 

I get why they bring the villains over to side with the X-Men, but not going to lie when they’re not fighting each other, and just humans, I don’t think it’s as exciting, but that’s just me.  

Oh, and before someone gets upset that I don’t mention her -- Lady Deathstrike.  Is in the film.  It’s an extended cameo.  It’s fine, I don’t really care all that much about Lady Deathstrike, so I’m fine with it. 

William Stryker - The main villain of the whole thing.  I think he works on paper, and he’s fine.  I’m not going to lie - I find scenes with him pretty boring, but plot revolves around him, and that’s fine.  Interestingly, I think his son, Jason, was a nod to Jason Wyngarde - Mastermind, who can project different realities around you.  I feel like that’s a nice little nugget there.  But other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to say about the main villain of the film.

Cameos and Easter Eggs -- there are a lot of little nuggets in here, and I’m not going to go through them all, but it’s nice to see a lot of other mutants scattered around, as well as nods to the comics.  It does add a fun layer onto the film.  

Final Thoughts:  I think the ending sequence works to great effect - but I still say this film’s thinner, and more philosophical plot leaves most of the characters by the wayside.  It was a great step forward for comic book films, it was lighter than the first one, had more humor, had some great talking points, and some good action sequences.  It’s still, unfortunately, wastes the potential of nearly all of its characters.  

Next Up: Oh, god, there’s a Hulk movie worse than Incredibly Hulk.... 

[kurtty-drabbles]

Evil movie au(training)

N/A: What Magneto is planning to do and what Kurt is planning to do.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @sailorstar9 @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336

Erik does mourn the death of Morph, a great soldier and a mutant that deserves better, Psylocke may save the doctor today, however, Psylocke is on Magneto´s list.

A funeral has been prepared for Morph and all honours it should be included. His family disowned him for his abilities, and Magneto is the real family for Morph. Lorna knew the mutant well enough to mourn for the loss, yet, she's still the only child in the Magneto´s lair.

And is soon forgotten as Magneto leaves to speak with Professor X, an enemy and friend that Erik can always count on and goes to play chess and talk about mutants, life and death.

Professor X is already waiting for him and Erik can sit down and talk, today, there´s no Magneto, only Erik. "Morph is dead, my friend, murder by a mutant, of all people, Charles...how is your dream? How is your life treating you?"

Charles does not need to be Professor X today. "Scott and Jean are marrying and we get a new mutant, Logan, who was..." Charles chuckles at this "in love with Jean and was rejected several time, it was quite amusing if I say so" Charles finishes and uses his mind to move a piece of chess.

"I've got a daughter, Charles...I found her 3 years ago wondering in the streets, her name is Lorna Dane and I´m raising the girl...not sure if I´m doing a good job, I failed Magda, Pietro and Wanda...I know little Wanda fears me, yet, Lorna...I don´t know what to do" Magneto uses the pawn to make the move.

"I had a son, one that didn´t like me very much and we´re not on speaking terms, I can give advice on that, my friend, but, I must ask something. I know what Magneto wants, now, what Erik wants?" Charles inquires quietly and Erik responds with sincerity.

"Magneto wants to create a better world for all mutants, while Erik, just wants a family and somehow both of those goals don´t meddle well together, what I can do?"

"Erik, ask yourself, how can you create a better world for mutants if you have to kill people to achieve it?"

"Charles, ask yourself, how can your students be safe against a government who see them as less than humans?"

__________________________________________________________________________

Time flies by ever since the towel episode and Kitty can´t help to review in her mind when she´s alone and can´t deny the inner turmoil, Kurt Wagner is a hot man and Kitty has enough to self-esteem to not cry and think this is a typical "bad boy making a bet he would sleep with said girl"

She´s not Jean Grey or Ororo, yet, she´s Kitty Pryde and that´s wonderful and if Kurt if so much indicates that Kitty is the second option, heaven and the angels won´t save him from her wrath.

Kurt Wagner and the towel aside(oh, she would like to see that) Ororo and Jean are picking people for a diplomatic mission, Wakanda and the Avengers are asking for a diplomatic input of the X-men and no one wants to have a bad RH.

Sadly, even for a diplomatic mission, Jean refuses to take Kitty Pryde, and to her surprise, even Storm is not taking any pity on Kitty´s plight and is supporting Jean´s choice.

"Kitten, I like you, I know you have a good heart and wants to help, but, sweet, this is diplomatic, however, is a diplomatic mission against Doom and the man is not above to play dirt" Storm explained and adds "Spike will be going because he does have experience in combat and I know he can defend himself and the others" Storm concluded with a gentle tone.

"And the fact I deal with monsters made by magic means nothing, ok, I´d know nothing about Dr Doom aside, well, he doom things, now, let me ask something, will I ever be an X-men?" Kitty asked not backing down.

"You´re a student now,  isn´t that enough?" Storm counter replied feeling as this is more than enough for an answer.

"No, not really. Will I be an X-men someday or will I be forever a student, because, as far I can see, I´m the oldest student here and I´ve my fair share of people thinking I can´t do anything in my own college, no need to add more"

"Kitten! is for your safety, what we see outside is far dangerous and horrible, you can´t imagine" Storm speaks and Kitty nods and interject. "Actually, I can and I did, but, I think no one cares to listen"

"Is not because we think your powers are weak," Storms tries again "is just you have no training for this mission and we don´t want anything bad to happen to you"

"I´ve no training because no one trains me, what one person must do to be an X-men? Be the last one standing?" and with that Kitty leaves the room, as she does leave, her wishes to be an X-men are lowering.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kitty Pryde is training on the Danger Room in the hopes to cool off some of her steams, well, the inner ones, as right now, Kitty is on Mortal Kombat setting fighting sub-zero, Kitty was ready to give the final blow, however, the sub-zero, manages to pin her down and finishes her.

Luckily for Kitty, the Danger Room is equipped to train, not to kill, so the setting is over and now Kitty is back to the cold metallic room. "I lost again" she speaks angrily.

"Well, your pose was poorly, no real defence, you jump straight to the attack." his accent and brimstone smoke are a give away that Kurt Wagner is here and Kitty does not want to look like a loser in front of him.

As she rose from the ground, Kitty Pryde has two realizations and will focus on the first one. "You know, for someone who leaves the X-men you´re here a lot" she teases and Kurt smiles calmly.

"I´m a simple man, I like to know if Rogue is alright, I like to see my friends, I like to annoy Jean and Scott and now, I can add to my list, that I like to see you" Kurt speaks in such a velvet tone and Kitty now can focus on the second realization.

Oh god, he´s almost shirtless, OH no he´s hot.

"My eyes are up here" Kurt mockingly admonishes and as he chuckles he then adds kindly " Not a big fan of Mortal Kombat, but, I can say you´re having a bad day and if you want to kill sub-zero...I can help"

Focus Kitty, pretend he´s not hot. God, that´s hard...innuendos.

"You want to train me?"

"Well, let´s see if we can defeat sub-zero and then we talk" Kurt flashes a smile and Kitty adds "Well, if you can defeat sub-zero, consider me impressed, elf" she smirks and as Kitty speaks with the Danger Room to starts again.

"Katzchen, prepare to see the amazing Nightcrawler in action" Kurt speaks now taking his shirt off and Kitty can agree with one thing.

OH NO, he got even hotter.

[secretlymagneto]

Simon’s Dark Phoenix Review (Not the director, another Simon) (NOT SPOILER FREE)

Yeah, I’m a Simon too, what of it? That’s another thing, actually. Watching DP was like reading my own writing. NOT A GOOD THING. I could see exactly what the director was going for and what the flaws in the script were because we have the same style, and my god was it bad. Like the pitfalls in my writing style but worse. A lot of the choices (setting and characterwise) are similar ones to what I would have made, which is why I’m trying to clear my head and make this. (Because while some of it is similar SOME OF THE DECISIONS ARE HORRIBLE WHY) It’s like looking at my evil twin yikes.

I have regathered my thoughts from last night after seeing Dark Phoenix. I’ve been mulling it over. I’ve been reading other reviews and looking through the lens of a fan, a moviegoer, and a critic.

What I have to say before I start:

Nostalgia. I have been watching x-men movies since 2014? 2012? My first X-Men movie was DOFP, so you can tell the precedent that set for me. There are two good X-Men Movies in the “new” timeline. DOFP, and First Class. You can tell (based on writing, character development, etc). This movie is not one of them.

Cons:

I’ll start with the cons first, to get them out of the way.

There are three women on the x-men team and they kill two of them. Storm is barely involved in anything, and only has a few moments of character/screentime. Also, they never call her Ororo despite that being her name. (Everyone else is referred to by name)

Some of the acting is lackluster. I was a bit surprised too. I don’t know, I was hoping for better. Especially in the mourning scenes.

Why hasn’t anyone talked about the PACING? It was weird, stilted, and way too quiet in some scenes. Sometimes the script was so vague and repetitive it sounded like a movie trailer rather than a movie. Raven’s death was anticlimactic merely due to the way it was written. Like, come on.

GOD THE SCRIPT IS AWFUL. Some of the character development is good (more on that later) BUT WOW. Sophie Turner isn’t a bad actress, so I wouldn’t fault her for her choices in this movie really. Like, most of the time she’s fine, but once in a while, she becomes unnecessarily repetitive. The character dialogue doesn’t flow. Sometimes the sentences are too short too often, which makes the film seem choppy. Show don’t tell is really important, but sometimes WHAT the characters say is telling in itself and they really could have used that to their advantage.

The villain was a bit underdeveloped. They were just kind of...there? Sometimes they were well and truly evil, and I really liked some of the scenes with the power transference and stuff. Other times, they were just a vague yet menacing “force” that sort of comes from nowhere and will soon go nowhere too.

Raven’s makeup isn’t good. Sometimes Hank’s isn’t either? But it’s not nearly as bad.

The score wavered between good and bad, sometimes drawing out scenes with a sort of Interstellar vibe (aka, very cool, very vast, very beautiful) but other times falling flat or making scenes too quiet.

Dude where the hell is Quicksilver? Peter is so important. His character development kind of relies on him revealing that Magneto is his dad (which Erik doesn’t know, and probably should have at this point). Also, Peter could have been a key player in convincing Erik that he wasn’t doing the right thing, but he wasn’t even there AT ALL. I know he’s not the main character, but I really expected some Dadneto moments in this one.

Kurt what. Just. What? Nightcrawler is like one of my favorite characters but there’s something about the way he’s written in this movie that’s sloppy. He’s still his sweet self around the beginning, but as the movie draws to a close his few moments of dialogue kind of (maybe) hint at development? Then he learns how to stop being a pacifist because some guy died, but like the way the actor conveys this looks like the way my friends used to pretend to do “violent rages” when they were younger. You know, the whole “AAAAAA” *stabs someone*. It looked cheesy.

There were some unintentionally hilarious moments. When Erik walks in with the subway car and looks up at Jean like “You think you can come into MY HOUSE and wreck MY SHIT for free??” that was PRICELESS. He doesn’t even say anything he just walks in there with his stupid train and stares at her. The evil lady is like talking to her when he just kind of bursts through the wall like the Kool-aid man.

Pros:

The first twenty minutes or so were the best twenty minutes. The work the team did together, the mission, and the atmosphere of the entire segment, was beautiful. Seeing the X-Men again on screen made me so giddy I was shaking.

The telekinesis was very good. I mean, the special effects weren’t always there but my god was the USE of telekinesis good. Like the creativity with it. They really manipulated it, making cool hand gestures and bringing power and finesse into play in order to make full use of the capabilities.

Erik has some of the most beautiful character development in this movie. He learns how to move when needed, while not taking drastic measures as he used to. He learns how to listen when necessary, and act when necessary. God, I’m such a Magneto stan.

Charles learns that he’s a flawed idiot. I’m so glad. (Quoted me, and also probably Magneto) Throughout all the movies he’s the good guy despite the fact that from his perspective and from the world’s perspective what he’s doing isn’t just the “optimistic” thing to do, but also the most dangerous. He’s sending teens (young adults?) to die for his cause because he believes so much in hope. It started in Cuba, and it’s still happening. He was the one who didn’t want to leave an astronaut behind. BASICALLY, HE SAYS THAT SOMETHING IS HIS FAULT AND THAT HE FAILED AND IT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT SCENE.

Scott and Jean’s relationship was actually nice! I liked it! (Personal opinion obviously) but I didn’t think it seemed too forced or uh unlikeable like in X3. Scott is drastic but he’s not nearly as “edgy” as he was. The ending wasn’t heartbreaking, but it was great character development for Jean. It was a sweet relationship, but not one I’d label as moving. (at least it was nice! And I liked it! Sometimes relationships just seem forced and awful)

Listen, I know people say that Erik was unnecessary for this movie but seeing as he and Charles work as two perfect halves to Jean’s full power and potential is actually a really good story element. Like when Charles tries to coddle her, Erik gives her the truth. That’s good duality.

Erik working with the X-Men is the best thing that’s it it’s the best thing.

THE ENDING!!! SO GOOD!! It left me satisfied and it felt like a good sendoff. Charles and Erik are finally friends again, and they’ve finally developed enough to know their own flaws. It was also super cute aaa

Moira Mactaggart isn’t in this movie. I don’t hate her character, but god the way her relationship is written with Charles is awful and I’ve had to deal with it for two movies. I’ve had enough and I’m so glad the writers realized this.

SOME OF THE SETTINGS AND SHOTS ARE GOOD. I don’t know how to explain it, but as a writer/artist, I’m a big fan of atmosphere and setting/color means EVERYTHING. The suburban neighborhood is pale and desolate, set during a hazed summer and conveying a sense of warped nostalgia. The mission in space was beautifully lit and composed.

As a fan I was happy with it. It may have not been the best movie, but by god was it as good as it was going to get. It far surpassed my expectations with Jean’s story arc (finally not making her “suddenly evil” or whatever, and not making her sexy) and it rounded out Charles and Erik in a very nice and healthy way.

THE CHARACTERS ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE. This is the one X-Men movie I’ve seen where I didn’t want to punch anyone in the fact for not just saying something or apologizing. CHARLES ACTUALLY SEES HIS FAULTS. He actually apologizes and steps down from his position. Erik actually listens and carefully reviews the circumstances in order to make an educated decision. Charles stops making his stupid self-righteous speeches (he’s really bad at that). Raven actually tries talking to Jean first before fighting, and the things she says weren’t problematic. Unlike when Charles keeps trying to talk to Erik (and botches it because they don’t have the same background and they’re too different, blah blah blah), Raven’s speech wasn’t assuming anything about Jean. It was about supporting her and helping her out. Jean was overwhelmed, but the grounding methods Raven used weren’t incorrect.

Conclusion:

6.5/10. I would say Apocolypse is only slightly better because it is more structurally sound, but it’s on thin ice. DOFP is still an all time favorite, and First class is up there, but Dark Phoenix isn’t the best. It was quiet, overdramatic, and while doing better on the emotional side felt overwhelmingly anticlimactic. If you’re a fan of the characters and you just want to see them again? See it. I liked this movie a lot for that, and I really enjoyed the moments in the movie. If you want to see a GOOD x-men movie? Don’t bother. It’s not GOOD GOOD. It’s not BAD. It’s Okay. It’s okay and I enjoyed it. I was actually pleasantly surprised by it based on my expectations! And I really liked certain aspects. So give it a shot, okay? Don’t let the mean reviewers get you down, this movie is better than they let on even if it’s not good as a “movie”.

[valkyrieofsmut]

Cowboy!Kurt’s Mail Order Bride

Cowboy!Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) x Mutant!OC

Descriptions:   Old westAU In about 1900 Germany, Kurt has heard stories about the wild west and dreamt about being a cowboy for a long time. When he’s brought over to America and sent to live with Logan he’s excited, until he learns what hard work a ranch actually is. Logan knows a woman will set him straight from his shenanigans, and brings one back. Kurt hopes for love, but they can’t seem to get along.

A/n- I watched the (1964) western movie “Mail Order Bride” and thought it would be hilarious to make a story and stick our favorite blue fuzzy man in! Also... He’s kind of a whiny brat in the beginning... because that’s where he had to be to have character growth! lol. 

Masterlist

Story!

Kurt laid in the back of the wagon, looking up at the night sky as they traveled toward the new place he would be living. 

New York. 

It was a large city in America, but he was hoping that it still had some of its western charm. 

A lot of books about the west had recently come to Germany for him to read, stories of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, wild outlaws, good lawmen, genteel ladies… 

He smiled as the thought came to mind that he may meet one of them. 

The smile turned to a frown, however, when he looked at the three fingered hand he lifted up to look at against the sky. 

Not only three fingered, but blue in the light, and invisible in the dark, except to his yellow-eyed night vision. 

He turned over and looked where Hank, a large man wearing a pair of glasses, was laying back, napping, and he wondered if it was something learned here, since he’d traveled all the time with the circus, but had never been able to sleep, since they all stayed awake in order to set up camp as soon as they landed. 

Or maybe it was the time difference since traveling across the ocean to America. 

He pulled his well worn German copy of “Tales of the wild west” from his bag and started reading. 

.

The sun shone down into Kurt’s eyes, waking him, and he saw that they had stopped moving. He sat up and looked around over the edge of the wagon, seeing a rather large spread of land, larger than what they’d take for the circus, even. He looked around further and saw Hank talking to a man in a wheelchair at the door of what he could only describe as a mansion. 

Kurt hopped out of the back and made his way to the door, knowing that Scott and Jean had probably already gone to “freshen up” or whatever it was city folk did after a journey. 

As he got to the door, Kurt had his eyes down and pulled on his hat so he didn’t have to see the shock/ disturbance in the man he was sure was the Professor’s face as he saw him for the first time, and followed the other two men inside. 

“Hello, Kurt. We are glad to have you here, are you excited to be in America?” The Professor asked. 

“Certainly,” he answered. “I have heard a lot of the cowboys here, and it has become my dream to be one as well.” 

The Professor chuckled. “We don’t have many cowboys around these settlements anymore, mostly settlers.” 

Kurt frowned, his hand holding his bag against him tightly. 

.

Logan was at the feed store, putting in an order when a woman came from the general store next door. 

“Oh, Mr. Logan, I’m glad you haven’t left yet, someone is on the line for you,” she told him, looking a tiny bit harried, but also interested in the happenings of whatever was going on. 

Logan looked up, wondering who it could be and threw two dollars on the counter. “Just load it up,” he told the man before following the woman next door. 

“It’s right back here,” she showed him, making sure the phone was working correctly before she left. 

“Yeah?” He asked into the phone. 

“Logan, thank goodness. It’s Xavier. Listen, I’ve taken in a young man- I’m not sure what to do with him.” 

“Sounds rough Professor, where do I come in?” 

“Well, I was hoping- He is very disappointed that there are no cowboys around here, he wants to be one desperately, I suppose.” 

There was a pause as Logan didn’t say anything. 

“I was thinking; your ranch is away from town quite a ways- he is affected physically- and it’s more like what he was hoping for-” 

The Professor’s voice was a little tight, and Logan knew it wasn’t for only those reasons that he wanted to bring the new mutant there. 

“I don’t know Professor, if he can’t hack it at city life, he ain’t gonna survive ranch life.” 

“I think he would enjoy it much more, Logan, just being there,” came the pressing answer. “And, I will, of course, help with expenses if he needs anything.” 

“Well… Suppose I could use a ranch hand. But I ain’t going easy on him.” 

Logan could practically hear the relief in the Professor’s voice as he said that someone would be around with him shortly. 

Shortly was a relative term when a simple trip to town could take a day, several hours, or just a few, depending on your mode of transport, and it was a mite bit farther from New York to where he was. 

Logan raised a brow, but shrugged it off as he hung up the phone. 

He finished his shopping around town and climbed back onto the wagon before turning his team back to home. 

He was surprised to see a figure standing on his porch, and only relaxed after he could tell that it was Hank. 

“Howdy,” Hank greeted. 

“Hey,” Logan responded. “How did you get here so fast?” He asked. 

Hank smiled his easy smile. “The new boy is a teleporter, and he was very motivated to come here. Took him a few jumps, but we made extremely good time.” 

“Yeah?” Logan snuffed, looking around. “Where is he?” 

Hank gestured to the other side of the house. “Out back. Your dog gave us a greeting.” 

“Hm. Get in,” Logan told Hank and they continued around the house to the back, stopping next to the barn. 

Logan saw his fluffy shepard mix chasing a lithe blue figure back into the herd of cattle that mooed and called to each other. 

Logan climbed down and stood on the fence for a moment before whistling to the dog and the young man followed the dog over. “Keel,” he told the dog and it laid down. 

The blue man stood next to the fence, a huge grin across his face. “Hallo,” he greeted with German accent. “I was just playing with your dog, he is very nice.” 

“He wasn’t playing,” Logan told him. “He was herding you.” 

“What?” Kurt asked in surprise. 

“Buck, tend,” Logan told the dog, and the dog jumped up and ran back to the herd. “He’s a herd dog. He protects them, and anything that’s not a threat in the fence that can be herded will be.” 

Kurt blushed a little and looked away in embarrassment. “Oh…” 

“So, you’re the one who wants to be a cowboy, huh?” Logan asked as Kurt easily slipped through the horizontal slats in the fence. 

“Ja, very much,” he enthused. “My name is Kurt,” he held out his hand as he greeted his new mentor. 

At least, he hoped he’d be his mentor, he certainly looked like a cowboy; a day’s growth on his face, muscles to spare from working his place, he had the boots, clothes, and hat. A real cowboy. He grinned at the man who was a little shorter than him, but he just got a grunt in reply. 

“There’s no time for messin’ around here, we have to unload this wagon.” 

.

Days passed and Kurt was exhausted. 

“But, I want to be a real cowboy,” he complained. “With the gunfights, and stampeeds, and cattle drives, and riding a horse everywhere…” 

Logan pounded on the horseshoe held by the other hand with a hammer. “Ain’t that romantic.” 

“I thought I was moved here so that I could be like a cowboy, but you all lied to me! You just wanted me out here to hide me from the town! I was doing fine at that in Germany, they promised I’d get to be like a cowboy!” He whined as he teleported around the shed rapidly in aggravation. 

“Knock it off,” Logan yelled, startling Kurt into stopping. “They sent you here because you need some training to be a man and not an annoying kid anymore.” 

“What? I’m not annoying,” Kurt denied. 

“Annoying me instead of doing your chores,” Logan told him. 

Kurt huffed and teleported to the ground to kick a rock. 

“Didn’t your mama teach you any manners?” 

“Nein,” Kurt snapped at him sullenly. 

“Hm,” he set down the things in his hands and switched tools to shoe the horse standing by the post. “Maybe that’s what you need, then.” 

“What?” 

“A woman to teach you how to behave like a man.” 

“A woman?” Kurt asked. 

Logan grunted in reply. 

“How is a woman going to teach me how to act like a man? Is she a crossdresser?” Kurt asked as he burst out laughing. 

“Think I’ll go find one,” Logan told him. 

“Really?” Kurt questioned, growing serious. 

Logan tossed his head yes as he finished with the horse. 

“A genteel woman?” Kurt asked a bit softly. 

“Yeah, sure. One that won’t put up with any cud from you,” Logan grumbled. 

”When will you go?” Kurt asked, his voice a bit surer, now. 

“Well, horse is shod. Could head out tomorrow, as long as you take care to milk the cow and don’t let yourself starve to death while I’m gone.” 

.

Kurt lay awake in the room he’d been told to sleep in, his hands unable to stay in one place for long, flitting nervously from his view to clutching the blankets to him to touching the book laying in the bed next to him. 

What would she look like? 

How would she react to seeing him for the first time? 

Would she be like the strict school marms he had read about, or more like a caring mother? 

How old would she be? 

His age, or older to be a mother figure? 

If she was his age, would she like him, or even be able to look past how he looked? 

Those questions and so many more rushed through his mind, unable to be quieted. 

.

The next morning he walked out to see Logan off, surprised at the amount of things he was loading onto his horse. 

“How long will it take to go into town?” Kurt asked. 

“Can’t go into town for this,” Logan answered. “No one is going to let their daughter go out to my ranch alone with me to live. Besides, we need someone who isn’t connected with the town so that it doesn’t raise suspicion.” 

“Oh… How far will you have to go?” Kurt asked. 

“Couple of towns. Should be back by the end of the month.” 

Kurt’s eyes widened. “What will I eat?” He asked. 

Logan shrugged. “There’s enough canned stuff, jerky and cheese to last for about that long, coffee, the well is good, milk from the cow, and some bread as long as you eat it before it goes bad. If you get real hungry, there’s always the horse feed.” 

Kurt looked irritated as Logan kicked the horse and took off. 

“Huh,” he grumbled, turning to the fence and jumping it easily, despite it being as tall as him, running to the dog and chasing it around, playing and rolling around on the ground. 

A/N-  For the next chapter, I also have to make a special note that the oc’s name is Bethilde (beth - ill - duh), because I named her, and then realized later that her name is spelled the same as Bethilde (bet- ill- duh). Basically, it’s just the pronunciation of the h, but Beth is short for (beth - ill - duh) and Betty is short for (bet - ill - duh) lol.

[obsessive-fics]

Title: Creature of the Night

Summary: Phil is the monster under Dan’s bed

Rating: T

Word Count: 3.7k

A/N: @obsessivelymoody  asked me what the weirdest AU I’d ever come up with was, so I wrote it

I couldn't finish this in time for the Halloween flash fest due to a family emergency, but I still really wanted to post it, so here it is! Happy Halloween everyone

[Read on Ao3]

“I’m telling you, there’s a monster under there!” Aiden Insisted for about the tenth time that night. Their parents were at a Halloween party, meaning Dan was left to babysit, and Aiden had gotten out of bed at least three times, claiming there was a monster under there.

“And I’m telling you monsters aren’t real,” Dan said for the millionth time that night barely looking up from the horror game he was playing. Not only had his parents uprooted his entire life, choosing to move away almost two months into term, they’d left him on babysitting duty so he couldn’t even sit in his room in the dark listening to music and being mad at them. No, instead he was trying to look over Aiden’s head to kill the zombie that was coming towards him.

“Dan! Please, I’m scared,” Aiden insisted, his voice wobbling, and since he wasn’t completely heartless, Dan sighed and put the controller down.

“I’ll tell you what. The monster’s under your bed, right?” he asked, and Aiden nodded.

“You sleep in my room, and I’ll stay in your room and catch the monster,” Dan told him, and he could see the relief wash over his little brother’s face, followed by cold determination.

“We have to set a trap,” Aiden said, nodding seriously.

“We… What?”

“Monsters can’t be out when the lights on, we can use that,” Aiden continued, dragging Dan towards the kitchen.

And that was how Dan found himself laying in Aiden’s entirely too small bed, an elaborate trap rigged up around him.

“When he jumps up, hit the switch and the lights will turn on. He can’t be in the light really long, so just get him to agree to go away, and then hit the switch again,” Aiden explained, and Dan nodded, coming to the realization that his brother was way smarter than he’d been at ten years old.

“Okay, got it. Now come on, into bed, or Mum and Dad won’t let you go trick or treating,” Dan replied, putting the switch down.

“I can’t move, the monster’s glued me to the floor,” Aiden said, holding his arms up.

“Alright, hop on.” Dan turned around, squatting onto the floor and Aiden hopped up onto his back. He ran down the hall to his bedroom, and dropped Aiden down on the bed, who laughed delightedly.

“Okay, I’m serious now. Time for bed,” Dan told him, again.

“I’m already sleeping,” Aiden said, laying down and closing his eyes. This lasted for about a second before he sat back up again. “Hey, Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for doing this for me,” Aiden told him, and Dan would never admit this, but he’d pretend to trap a hundred monsters for that kid.

“Anytime. Good night,” he said, turning off the light.

“Good night.”

Dan had been laying in Aiden’s bed for about an hour now, and he couldn’t sleep at all. Obviously, there wasn’t a monster in there, that would be ridiculous. Still, something was making him feel uneasy. Maybe he just needed a drink. He was about to get up to get a glass of water when the bed started shaking.

“Boo! Wait, you’re not Aiden.”

“What the fuck!” Dan shouted, sitting up. There was a… Guy? Creature? Sitting at the end of the bed- everything about him was blue, from his scaly skin, to the eyes curiously peering at Dan, who was trying very, very hard not to faint.

“I’m dreaming. This is just a nightmare. Fucking Nightcrawler isn’t actually in my bed right now,” Dan muttered to himself, looking around frantically. Where the hell was that switch?

“Of course Nightcrawler isn’t here, the x-men aren’t real,” the creature said, looking confused.

“I’ve lost my fucking mind,” Dan said, finally finding the switch.

“No! Please don’t turn the light on,” the creature begged, and he looked so scared, Dan hesitated.

“Who are you, what do you want, and why is my brother so scared of you?” Dan asked, holding the switch up threateningly.

“I’m Phil- I don’t really know how to answer those last two questions, this is just my job,” the creature- Phil explained, holding his legs up to his chest.

“It’s… Your job? Like you do this for a living?” Dan asked, putting the switch down. Whatever this guy was, he seemed pretty harmless. Actually, it seemed like he didn’t want to be there at all.

“Yeah. We each get assigned a child and we’re supposed to scare them. I’m not very good at it though, Aiden is my third reassignment,” Phil explained.

“You get assigned children to… Like Monsters Inc?”

“Kind of? We don’t need screams. But we’re monsters- if we’re not doing monster things, we stop existing.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, my brother is completely terrified of you,”  Dan told him, shrugging. He had no idea why he was trying to be comforting, Phil just looked so dejected about the whole thing.

“Really?” Phil asked, looking up at him hopefully.

“Yeah, why do you think I’m here trying to trap you?”

“That’s great! Well, I’m sorry about your brother, but I really needed this one to work out. Maybe everyone will be a little nicer once they find out I've actually scared someone."

“They aren’t… Nice to you where you come from?”

“I mean, some of the others are okay. But no one wants to be friends with a monster that’s not scary,”  Phil explained, looking down sadly.

“Oh. Well… I’ll be your friend. I guess,” Dan offered, after a minute. He didn't know what it was about Phil that made him instantly want to fix whatever was making him sad.

“Really?” Phil asked excitedly. 

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen tonight. I’m Dan.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Dan, 17 years old, older brother, potential threat,” Phil recited.

“I’m sorry, what?” Dan asked, confused. He was about as threatening as a teletubby.

“We have to watch out for older siblings. You’re more likely to believe the child, and unlike parents, you can see us,” Phil explained, and Dan nodded, because sure, why not? Apparently there was a whole monster community keeping tabs on him in case he decided to wage war on them or something.

“Well, since we’re friends now, do you wanna see something cool? I’ve never had a friend before,” Phil continued, completely oblivious to the huge crisis Dan was having right now.

“Do I have to?”

“No, but I’m here until morning. So I could wake Aiden up, or we could-”

“Okay fine, let’s go. The last thing I need is Aiden still being up when my parents get home,” Dan said, standing up.

“Take my hand,” Phil instructed. Once they were standing next to each other, Dan noticed that they were about the same height, which either meant monsters were of way more average height than he thought, or he really was freakishly tall. He also noticed Phil had a tail, because you know, of course he did.

“Why?” Dan asked, but he obliged anyway. This was either a very, very vivid dream, or he’d completely lost his mind. Either way, nothing to do but go for it.

“So I can bring you into our world. Ready?” Phil asked, bending down to the floor, pulling, Dan down with him.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Phil crawled down under the bed, and then took Dan’s hand again. The next thing he knew, Dan was falling.

“Fun, right?” Phil asked as they continued to plummet to God knows where. Dan, who was putting all of his energy into not screaming, stayed silent. Finally, after it felt like they’d been falling for ages, they landed on a mattress in what looked pretty much like a regular town.

“So, this is your world? I was picturing more Halloweentown,” Dan said, standing up, and looking around.

“You watch a lot of movies,” Phil observed, climbing down of the mattress. Dan shrugged, following suit.

“You’re the one catching all my references,” he pointed out. Phil took his hand again, and started walking.

“That’s where everyone plays Monster Ball,” he said, gesturing to what looked like a baseball field. “I’m actually banned from playing. Too many injuries.”

“Yours or others?” Dan asked, and Phil shrugged.

“Both,” he said after a minute, which made Dan laugh. He realized Phil was staring at him intently, and he felt his face start to heat up.

“What?”

“Nothing. I like your laugh. I don’t get to hear laughter a lot,” Phil admitted, looking down, and for someone reason that made Dan really said. He squeezed Phil’s hand in an attempt to be comforting, but that just alerted him to the fact they were holding hands again.

“Uh, Phil?”

“Hmm?” Phil asked distractedly.

“Why are we holding hands now?”

“Oh.. Yeah, I thought it’d be easier to stay together this way. Do you mind?”

“Uh, no, I guess not,” Dan said, and he really needed to get out more. He felt twelve years old again- holding hands with someone didn’t mean anything. It probably meant even less to monsters, and even if it didn’t, why would he want it to mean something?

“Are you okay? Your heart rate’s gone up,” Phil asked, looking over at him.

“You can hear my heartbeat. Of course you can.”

“It helps to know if someone’s scared. Not all kids scream.”

“Right. Of course. How long have you been doing this anyway?” Dan asked as they walked.

“Not long. I’m only a hundred and eighteen,” Phil told him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Right. Only,” Dan replied, nodding slowly. This was shaping up to be the weirdest night of his life. He was in some sort of alternate dimension, with no way to get home, at the mercy of (an admittedly sweet and endearing), but still. A monster.

“Okay! This way,” Phil said, dragging him along.

“Where exactly are we going?” Dan wondered when they got to a ladder.

“This is where I live- well, it’s where I got banished to. Between the monster ball, and the whole not being scary thing, the others don’t really want to be around me,” Phil explained, starting to climb.

“Exactly how high up does this go?” Dan asked, after it felt like they’d been climbing forever.

“Just a few more steps,” Phil told him, and before long, they were coming up on what was basically just a room. There was a bed, and a huge window, and a huge pile of plushies in the corner.

“You just. Stay up here, by yourself?” Dan asked, looking around. This was depressing as fuck.

“Well, yeah. It’s not much, but this is what I wanted to show you,” Phil answered, walking towards the window. Dan followed him, and looked out at the most incredible view. There were ladders everywhere, stretching up into an almost velvet blue sky. There were fairy lights everywhere, connecting all kinds of different sized buildings.

“So this is where all the monsters live?” Dan asked, still looking out at the view in awe.

“Yup. Those ladders go up to every human child’s bedroom in the entire world,” Phil told him, looking out the window too.

“Wow. This place is insane. How come we haven’t seen anyone?”

“Everyone’s out scaring.”

“Oh. So, what do you wanna do?”

“I didn’t really have a plan beyond this. It’s just nice to have someone to talk to,” Phil admitted, looking over at him. Dan thought about his new school where he didn’t know anyone, and ate lunch alone in the library.

“Come home with me,” he said, before he could think better of it.

“What?”

“Well, you don’t have any friends, I don’t either. But I do have lots of video games.”

“Really, you want to spend more time with me? On purpose?” Phil asked, and he sounded so surprised, Dan had to laugh.

“Yeah. I mean, you have to promise to leave Aiden alone. But other than that, I don’t see why we can’t hangout.”

“Okay,” Phil agreed, and it took Dan a second to realize he was actually glowing.

“Sorry. It happens when I’m happy,” Phil explained sheepishly.

“You’re literally adorable. You’re a Disney character- no wonder you can’t scare anyone,” Dan answered laughing. Phil tried briefly to look offended, but ended up bursting into laughter too.

“Shut up.”

And with that, Dan let Phil lead him back up the ladder to Aiden’s bedroom. It was a little awkward at first, standing in his little brother’s bedroom with a monster he’d barely known for a few hours, but then Phil went to pick up one of Aiden’s toys from the window sill, tripped on a different toy and fell down. Dan laughed, and the tension dissipated.

“Come on, I’ll teach you how to play this game called Overcooked,” Dan told him leading him into the living room.

As it turned out, Phil was a really fast learner. And aside from some bickering while they figured out how everything worked, the two of them made a really good team. They played several more rounds, Dan making fun of Phil whenever he forgot how to do something, or messed something up.

“Oh no,” Phil said suddenly, putting his controller down.

“It’s fine, just throw that plate out, we’ve still got time,” Dan said, but Phil didn’t move.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“The sun. It’s rising,” Phil told him, looking worried. Smoke was already starting to radiate off of him, and this living room had a lot of windows.

“Oh! Well, let’s get you back then, before you… Melt?” Dan asked, standing up.

“Something like that, yeah.”

They managed to make it to the bedroom with minimal sun exposure, and Dan found himself feeling an unexpected sense of loss.

“Will you be back tomorrow night?” he asked, looking down. This night had been the most fun he’d had since moving to this awful town, and he kind of didn’t want it to end.

“Of course,” Phil told him, and then he was gone, leaving Dan feeling completely, and utterly alone.

Phil did come back the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Dan eventually convinced Aiden he’d gotten rid of the monster, and Aiden returned to sleeping in his own room. Dan took his video game system out of the living room and hooked it up in the bedroom, so that when the sun started to come up in the morning, he could just close the blinds and it wouldn’t affect Phil too much. They hung out, playing video games or watching movies or tv every night. Phil was obsessed with anything about American High School, especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As it turned out, there was no concept of high school in his universe, and he thought it was fascinating. Dan was also pretty sure he had a thing for Buffy, but he just let him have it.

Phil was a fascinating person to be around- Dan had to double his candy and snack supply, because he ate almost all of it every time he visited. He didn’t mind at all though. He started to look forward to when Phil would arrive, sitting on the floor next to his bed waiting for him. He also started to notice little things, like how tactile Phil was- he was always finding ways into Dan’s space, holding his hand while they walked, shoving him when he beat him at Mario Kart, resting his head on his shoulder while they watched movies. But once again, Dan didn’t mind at all.

“So, do monsters feel human emotions?” Dan asked one night. They were laying on his bed, after marathoning an anime Dan insisted Phil had to see if they were going to keep being friends.

“Like what?” Phil wondered, looking over at him.

“You know, like anger, or hunger, or…” Dan trailed off, looking up at the ceiling. “Nevermind. I don’t know why I asked.”

“We feel everything humans do. Not guilt, usually. That’d make it hard to be, well, us, but other than that, we feel everything.”

“Everything?” Dan asked, his voice suddenly small. Phil nodded, reaching up to push Dan’s hair out of his face.

“Everything,” he repeated, and for a while, they just lay there, staring at each other. There was so much Dan wanted to ask, wanted to say, but he didn’t even know where to start. They were so close, Dan could see that Phil’s eyes were slit, like a cat’s, and there were flecks of green and gold in them.

“I’m really glad I met you,” Phil told him seriously, and it felt like the world had slowed to a stop- nothing else existed except them, and this moment.

“I’m really glad I met you too,” Dan replied, and then, once he couldn’t take it anymore, he did maybe the most insane thing he’d ever done, and leaned in.

“Is this okay?” he whispered, once their faces were barely inches apart.

“Monsters also feel impatience, you know,” Phil whispered back.

“What?” Dan started to ask, but Phil kissed him, cutting him off. It was soft and perfect, and Phil’s hands felt cold on his face, and he wanted to keep doing this forever.

“You were taking too long,” Phil said softly, pulling away.

“Then why’d you stop so soon?” Dan asked, and Phil laughed.

“You’re glowing again,” Dan pointed out, smiling at him fondly.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said, and then they were kissing again.

All too soon, the sun started to come up, and they had to say goodbye.

“You could always come with me, you know,” Phil told him, pulling on one of Dan’s hoodies. He’d taken to leaving with an item of Dan’s clothing whenever he had to go back home.

“Now I have to come back,” he’d say, but Dan knew he just liked to feel close when he was away.

“I can’t. I have to be here. For my brother, and my parents. Plus, I do still have to go to school,” Dan pointed out, sitting up.

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“You’d better.”

And then, after a quick kiss goodbye, Phil was gone.

After that, everything was pretty much perfect. Dan was always exhausted during the day, but it was worth it for all the time he got to spend with Phil at night. Unfortunately, things couldn’t stay this way forever.

“Something bad is happening,” Phil said one night, pacing the length of Dan’s bedroom.

“You mean, you being here still fully clothed?” Dan asked, watching him.

“I’m serious. Look at my hands,” Phil said, stopping, and holding them up.

“They’re… Not blue. What’s going on?” Dan replied, growing worried.

“I didn’t want to tell you. I thought maybe it was a just a myth, and I didn’t want to stop seeing you. I don’t want to stop seeing you, I just…” Phil trailed off, looking down.

“What? What is it, you’re scaring me,” Dan asked frantically, standing up.

“That’s just it. I’m not. I’m not scaring anyone,” Phil explained dejectedly. Dan vaguely remembered Phil saying something about this the night they met- having to do monster things, or he’d cease to exist.

“There’s gotta be something we can do, another way… Let’s go,” Dan said, bending down in front of the bed.

“Dan? I don’t want to go back, I just want to stay here with you as long as I can,” Phil replied, but Dan shook his head vehemently.

“Well, I don’t want my boyfriend to suddenly stop existing. There’s gotta be someone who can help.”

“Boyfriend?” Phil asked softly, starting to glow.

“Not the time.”

“Right. Sorry. Well there’s only one person who could help,” Phil said, bending down next to him.

“Let’s go then.”

They made the descent down into Phil’s world, and Dan immediately jumped up off the mattress and started walking, dragging Phil along with him.

“We’re going the wrong way,” Phil pointed out after a minute.

“Right, sorry. You lead.”

Phil lead him to what was basically a castle in the center of all of the other buildings.

“This is where the Boss lives,” Phil explained, as they walked in. A few bored looking guards looked up at them as they passed, but didn’t stop them. They finally came to a throne room, where an actual dragon was sitting. Upon seeing them, a huge puff of red smoke appeared, and then there was a woman standing in front of them, still completely red. Dan was going to faint.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, Boss, but we need your help,” Phil said, and she laughed. Loudly.

“And why should I spare you for being completely incompetent and alerting a human to our existence?” she asked cooly, once she calmed down.

“Please, Ms. Boss… Person. Please don’t take Phil from me. He’s my best friend,” Dan pleaded, and she turned her green, cat-like eyes on him.

“How sweet. You’ve got a pet,” she said to Phil, eyeing Dan up and down with calculating disinterest.

“Is there anything we can do?” Phil asked desperately, and she waved a hand dismissively.

“Oh, calm down. You’re not going to cease to exist, that’s just something I tell everyone to keep this place running. If you truly want to be with this human, you can stay in the human world. You will eventually turn human, but it’s going to be a long and painful process. I don’t actually care what you do, but you can never return here. Now go.”

They nodded, and turned to go on their way. Once they were in the hallway, Dan pulled Phil to the side.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, searching his face urgently.

“I want to be with you,” Phil said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I know. But you can’t make this decision like that. Do you really want to go through this transformation, and never be able to return home? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

“I have a new home now. And besides, I never fit in here anyway,” Phil told him, and Dan nodded.

“Okay. Okay then, let’s go home,” he said starting to walk, when he felt a tug on his wrist. He turned to ask Phil what was wrong when he pulled Dan into him and kissed him deeply.

“Thank you. For everything,” he told him seriously, and if he was a monster, Dan probably would’ve started glowing.

“Of course. Now let’s go home.”

[opheliamblackwood]

Refraction: Chapter 2: A Danger to Your Health

I'm dreaming of mom again. It's the same dream over and over again. It's always the same dream. She’s always reaching for me and as I reach for her, I can see her screaming, but I never hear it. I watch her skin and muscle melt away from her body until all I can see is half of her face masked in horror and her bony fingers reaching for me. I see the mushroom cloud go off in the distance and can feel the heat of the shock wave on my face. At first, it feels like the Sun and then it starts to boil my skin until blisters form. That isn’t possible for me now that I know that I can’t be harmed by the radiation, only fueled by it.

I don’t know what kinds of things I might be able to do.  I know that one of the effects of the Radiation on those of us positively affected by it, is an unnaturally long life. It will take us a lot longer to die. Our life span is practically doubled and we don’t really get old. We age, but we don’t show it. Some of us have more mental abilities and some of us have physical abilities. There is extra strength, heightened senses on grand scale. Things like hearing farther than normal humans can, being able to lift a phenomenal amount. We never get sick, we never age, but we can die. 

This girl I grew up with, Charlotte, found out she was a Nukie and lost her damn mind. She had telekinesis and it was heavily connected to her mood. As you can imagine, she was freaking out knowing that she was one of us and this made her telekinesis go haywire. She started throwing everything around her, including people. A lot of people got hurt and she moved a heavy machine that got slammed into her little brother who died from the impact. The only way to get her to stop was to knock her out which the Feds did. They took her away and no one has ever seen her again. Her poor family was left to pick up the pieces, losing both of their children. Her dad committed suicide a week later and her mom got really sick and eventually passed away a few months after that. It’s what Nukies like us risk to lose. It’s important to stay very calm until you can get a reign on whatever ability it is that you have. 

I think about all of this as I go to work. I’m hoping to find something that will help me figure myself out. They’ve been running all sorts of tests on various Nukies. They tend to leave those of us that are Nukies and Engineers alone, seeing as how they need us. So, they test on other Nukies instead. Mainly, we test out their powers in a safe, controlled environment, draw their blood and try to replicate whatever genetic mutations caused from the radiation exposure on Non-Nukies. Nothing has worked so far. We can’t create Nukies. Therefor, we can’t un-create Nukies. So, there’s a strong chance I’ll be like this forever. 

There’s a girl I work with, Bria. I knew her back in college. We had a lot of the same classes together and we’ve become good friends over the past few years. Especially since the War. We got assigned to the same team, so we see each other everyday. Bria isn’t afraid of me. Rather, she finds me interesting and loves to annoy the shit out of me every single day by asking me if I’ve figured out what my abilities are yet.  I walked in today, clomping into the lab in my Doc Martens and Bria, as usual, excitedly jumps up from her stool to dash over to me and yet again, annoy the shit out of me. 

“Anything?!” she asks in an excited whisper as if everyone where we worked didn’t know that I was a Nukie. 

I sigh exasperatedly.

“No, Bria.” 

I walk over to my stool and sit down, careful not to tip it over as I lean forward and look through some paperwork. I can feel Bria’s eyes on my face as I attempt to read. I give up and lay the papers down, turning to face her. As I expected, her eyes are alight with excitement and her lithe body looks like she’s ready to spring on me. I eye her warily and take the bait, 

“What?” I ask. 

“ You didn’t hear?” she asks, excitement still present in her voice.

“If I’d heard anything worth warranting excitement, I wouldn’t be asking would I?” I say, annoyance in my voice.

It sails completely over Bria’s head or maybe she just ignored it.

“ They found something.” she says, trying to keep her voice down to a whisper.

“What do you mean they FOUND something?” I ask. 

Could she be talking about the Feds? Did they finally “crack” the code to us Nukies?

Bria looks around nervously and gets a little closer to me which is beginning to make me a little uncomfortable. I’ve seen Bria excited, but never like this. 

“They tested a girl yesterday and Raheed was checking her blood when he found something. We did the necessary tests and....” Bria said, trailing off. She glanced around nervously. I looked around too and everyone was focusing on the task in front of them. I wondered why she was so nervous. 

“ And?” I asked.

“ It worked.” she said, letting out a breath as if she’d been carrying a stack of concrete blocks.

My face must have betrayed how surprised I was.

“ What?!” I said in a rather loud whisper which garnished some looks from our colleagues. 

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. Not everyone in the lab knows.” Bria said leaning in close to me.

“What? Why?” I asked. Why would it be a big secret anyway? Isn’t this what we’d been working towards for months anyway?

“ I don’t know. But...be careful. I don’t know what this could mean. They may try and experiment on you next. And, you’re my friend. I don’t want to lose you.” Bria said, tears in her eyes.

I laughed and reassured her, “Bria, I’ll be fine. I’m sure they won’t. Besides, they need me don’t they?” 

“ Well, yes and no. Now that they know they can do it with the teams they have, what’s not to say they won’t just forego their no-touch rule and go after you next? I mean, it’s feasible.” she said worriedly. 

“Bria. I think you’re being paranoid.” I said and turned back to my paperwork.

She was right. What was to keep them from coming for me next? I wasn’t going to be some god damn lab rat for these people. And, I enjoy being a Nukie. It keeps me safe in a lot of ways. It seems to me that the only real danger in this new world are the damn humans. I mean, I still consider myself human, but a lot of people would say I’m a mutant or a monster. Nukie is a kind term and Meta-Human is what the scientists call us. They say we’re the next step in the evolutionary change. They want to understand why people like me are so special that we get to have the privilege that comes with being a Meta-Human. Everyone wants to be the cool kid on the block. It’s not exactly like I asked for this, but I’m not exactly complaining either. 

I feel like an X-Man everyday. I’m just thankful I’m not Rogue. It would seriously suck to have to wear gloves everyday of my life. Wolverine doesn’t seem like a great character in terms of if I had to choose to be him. Being Storm would be pointless underground, although, she is pretty bad-ass. Jean Grey was pretty cool, but she had a lot of issues with her powers. Cyclops, I’ll pass on that one. Gambit was...interesting. Nightcrawler was pretty cool. I don’t know. I think about this often. I get to be my own X-Man. Hey, maybe I can grab a bunch of meta-nerds like me and form my very own X-Men group in real life. How could would that be?

My mind tends to wander and jump from thought to thought. I kind of can’t help it. I was so stuck in my thoughts that I didn’t realize how quiet everything had gotten around me. I look back up and everything around me is different. People aren’t moving at all and the room is no longer bright and mostly white. It’s a stormy gray and there’s a mist that’s sort of snaking around everything like I’m walking in a countryside in a zombie movie or something. I carefully get up from my stool and I wave my hand in front of Bria who is staring in my general direction. Her body stays the same. Her eyes don’t move at all. Freaky.

I can hear this low humming sound and a faint sound of what sounds like whale song? What the hell? The room is suddenly very cold and I wrap my lab jacket around me even more. I take my goggles off and put them down on the table in front of me. Is everyone frozen in time? Is this Me? It has to be Me doing this. This has never happened before. I leave the lab and dash as quickly as I can to the experiment room. This room requires a certain level of clearance that I don’t really have. I’m on the lower end of what I’m allowed to do, see and participate in. If ever I wanted the full answers to what they do to people like me, now’s the time. I’m not sure how long this will last, so I’m really praying to every God that exists that it stays this way long enough for me to snoop and get back to my desk like nothing ever happened.

I remember watching a bunch of sci-fi movies when I was a kid. I loved watching all of the old stuff. The Twilight Zone was my favorite. I remember thinking about all of the possibilities of the world and wondering if any of those things are possible. Now that I’m older, I still think it’s all very possible. I had always wanted a different life. I used to beg for anything other than the mundane. Well, I got it. There was a war and multiple nuclear bombs were dropped. Everyone wanted so badly to win that they stopped caring about who they were fighting for. In the end, no one won. I guess, maybe we did. If this had never happened, I would never know what I could be capable of, what I could become. I feel like I’m in a sci-fi novel. If you think about it, I am. Dystopian future, protagonist with a heart-wrenching backstory. I think about this as I make my way down the multiple hallways I’ve walked so many times. I stand outside the door that’s heavily guarded. There are 4 SWAT officers that are heavily armed and quite intimidating. This is my chance.

I slip past them and go through the doors to see multiple scientists frozen in various poses around the room while they do different things. In the center of the room is the president of our branch staring at a man that is naked and suspended in clear fluid with various tubes hooked up to his body. Walking around the man, I see that his eyes are open. I gasp because I notice that the color of his irises are similar to mine. I’ve never seen anyone else with eyes like mine. I don’t have any siblings, so I know we can’t be siblings. He looks about my age and is well-built. I avert my eyes and try very hard not to look down, even though I want to. The last time I had a boyfriend was in college before the war. He didn’t make it. There hasn’t been anyone since. 

So this is what they’re working on back here. I walk around the room, eyeing everyone cautiously and read over some of the various paperwork that I see. It seems like they’ve been working on him his whole life. He’s a year younger than me and he’s an orphan. They took him from one of the bunkers and have kept him here ever since.  His name is Project number 12. They couldn’t even give him a fucking name? This is cruel. I wonder what they’re doing to him. I’m assuming they’re experimenting on him, but I wonder what for.  Is he like me? He must be to have my eyes. I wonder if he has this ability too. I press my hand to the glass. I feel this connection with him now. 

I don’t know how much time I have. I’m lucky as all get out that I’ve had this long without getting caught. I turn to head out of the room and look back one last time. His eyes meet mine and I let out a gasp. Is he...awake? I back away and run down the halls to my stool and compose myself. When my breathe finally evens out, the world swims back into focus. Noise fills my ears and I can hear the on-goings of the lab. No one even noticed I was gone. So, I can control how long I freeze time after-all. I look around and everything is bright, white and clear again. What was with that weird mist anyway? 

Bria comes over to me and scares the shit out of me when she whispers, “Boo.”

“Shit, Bria! Why would you do that?” I say.

Bria looks surprised and steps back.

“Woah, you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.” Bria says. 

“I’m fine. Just...tired.” I say, putting my pen down and rubbing my eyes with one hand.

“Are you having the nightmares again?” Bria asks. 

“Yeah.” I say, looking up at her.

“ I’m sorry Rory.” Bria says, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

I lay my hand over her hand.

“Thanks Bri. I appreciate it.” I say.

“You should go home. It’s not like they’ll notice if you aren’t here. There’s only like a thousand of us. What’s one day anyway?” Bria says.

“Yeah, maybe I will.” I say.

I work for another hour and decide to go home. I feel strange and think about that man that I saw. Was he looking back at me? Was he unfrozen? It’s weird. I feel like he’s watching me even now, but that isn’t possible. But, I can’t stop the feeling of being watched. I turn around in the street and everyone is doing their own thing. No one is looking at me. I turn around and head home. 

I hang my jacket up and call out, “I’m home!” 

The house is silent. 

“Dad?” I call out. Complete silence.

I head upstairs and see him in bed. 

“Dad?” I ask again quietly, gently putting my hand on his shoulder trying to wake him.

My breath catches in my throat. My hands shaking, I put two fingers on the side of his throat to feel for his pulse. There isn’t one. I fall back on the floor and look at his body. He’s gone.